Different Shades
by sawyerzelda
Summary: Temporarily going through technical difficulties involving evil computer disks....(but read if u want)
1. Time to Travel

It was a lovely morning at the palace in Hyrule. Their princess was jumping up and down excitedly. It was her favorite time of year. TIME FOR THE SUPER SMASH BROTHERS MELEE TOURNAMENT!!!!!!!!  
"Uh, princess," Link said to Zelda, who couldn't keep still. "The boat will be here any second, so.calm down."  
"OKAY!" Zelda shouted, finally stopping moving. They were both standing on Hyrule's dock, waiting for the Mushroom kingdom boat to pick them up. They (meaning the Mushroom kingdom, not Hyrule) were hosting the cool tournament this year.  
"Well well well, if it isn't the princess and her gallant hero," came a quite sarcastic voice behind them. They swiveled around, only to see their arch-nemesis, Gannondorf (or Ganon). He laughed, and held out his hand. Link hesitated, then shook it.  
"Participating again, Ganon?" he asked.  
"Of course," he answered. "Why would I miss out on the chance to whip your butts without punishment? And on national television!" He laughed, and Zelda rolled her eyes.  
"You sound more excited than me," she said. Then, the moment they'd (all) been waiting for, the boat pulled into the harbor! "YES! YES YES YES!" Zelda exclaimed. "They're finally here!!!"  
Ganon looked up at the church clock. "And right on time, too. My my, that pudgy plumber is quite punctual, isn't he?"  
Slowly, a ramp lowered down to the dock. And, true to Ganon's word, a pudgy plumber appeared. "Greetings-a Hyrule!" he shouted. "It's-a me! Mario!" The crowd at the harbor cheered. Then, out came Princess Peach.  
"Princess Zelda, Link, and Gannondorf, would you please board the ship!" she called out.  
Without a moment's hesitation or dignified pause, Zelda ran up the gangplank, and embraced Peach. "Oh, Peachie! It's been so long! Well, only a year really, but that's still very long! Much too long to be away from one of my dearest friends!"  
"Yes, I know!" Peach whispered. Link, Ganon, and Mario were all busy shaking hands.  
Peach walked up to Link, and hugged him (a little too tightly, thought Zelda), and pecked his cheek. Zelda had seen that one coming, as Peach had made a habit of doing it ever since last year. "Welcome, Link!" she said. The gangplank rose up from the dock, and the Hylians cheered.  
"Good-bye!" Gannondorf shouted, waving. "I'll miss you!"  
"You know someone?" Link asked incredulously.  
"No, that's not the point!" They both continued waving.  
Zelda and Peach started walking around the deck, arm in arm. "So, have you picked up anyone else yet?" the Hyrulian Princess asked.  
"Yes," Peach answered. "We've gotten Fox, Falco, Samus, Captain Falcon, and, uh.well, everyone except Marth and Roy. Altea is our last stop, you know. Would you like to see everyone?"  
"Oh yes!" Zelda answered breathlessly. Peach led her into a room, where an armoured figure was beating up a man in a racing suit.  
"AND THE NEXT TIME YOU DARE ASK ME FOR A KISS, I'LL LEAVE YOU WITH A LOT MORE THAN BRUISES TO REMEMBER ME BY!!!!" the one in armor shouted. Then she turned, and saw the two princesses. "Oh, Zelda! It's so brilliant to see you!" She took off the helmet, and shook her head of blonde hair.  
"Samus!" Zelda exclaimed, extending a hand. "So wonderful to see you again." She looked down at Captain Falcon. "So.I guess Falcon's still trying to get you to go out with him, right?"  
"Yeah," Samus answered, rolling her eyes. "Geez, don't men get it when girls say no? No means no!"  
"Well, I certainly know what you mean," Zelda responded. "You don't know HOW many times my father has tried to marry me off to some dork." She shivered. "That pocket protector still gives me nightmares."  
"Samus, do you know where we might find Fox and Falco?" Peach inquired. Samus pointed to a door on their right. "Thank you. See you later, Captain Falcon."  
"Show me your moves," Falcon said wearily, saluting them.  
"Riiiigggghhhtttt," Zelda said, laughing.  
Fox and Falco were playing pool. Zelda and Peach crept in silently, and the two pilots' backs were to them. Then, suddenly, "HI GUYS!!" they yelled at the top of their lungs. Fox's cue stick dug into the felt tabletop. The bird and fox turned, and grinned, bowing.  
"Good morning, princesses," Fox said. "Lovely to see you, Zelda. However, I am afraid that you've ruined our pool game. Of course, I was winning it anyway."  
"Were not!" Falco retorted.  
"Was too!" Fox yelled back. The two royal women decided to leave them to their quarrel, and left in search for Mario and Luigi.  
The two brothers were playing shuffleboard on the deck. Zelda flashed them a smile, and they stopped playing.  
"Hello-a, Zelda!" Mario said. "It's-"  
"I know," said Zelda, giggling. "It's-a you, Mario!" The four of them broke into laughter. "I'm sorry. Goodness Luigi, it's nice to see you! Three hundred and sixty five days sure do drag by!"  
"They-a sure do, Princess-a Zelda!" Luigi said.  
"Just call me Zelda," she responded. "Please, continue your game."  
"PIIIII-KAAAAAAA-CHUUUUUUU!!!!" A flash of lightning came from within the ship.  
"Oh no, not again!" Peach shouted. She and Zelda ran into a room.  
Pikachu was inside, with a moustache and monocle drawn onto his face. Jigglypuff was in the corner, bound and gagged, her large eyes opened very wide.  
"She must have sung him to sleep," Zelda deduced. "And drawn on his face." It was Jigglypuff's favorite prank.  
"Pika-pi, pikachu!" the rodent exclaimed angrily.  
"Uh, pardon?"  
"He said, 'That pokemon is a hazardous creature.'" A purple cat floated into the room. Zelda recognized him as the psychic pokemon Mewtwo. "I suggest that you two get your royal tushies out of here. Some rather.disturbing actions may ensue." The princesses quickly left.  
Just as Zelda closed the door behind her, she saw a bucket of water drop on Peach. It was followed by several water balloons.  
"What the-" the Mushroom Princess looked up, only to see Bowser rolling with laughter. Then the two princesses began to laugh.  
"Hi, Bowser!" Zelda called up. "You missed me!"  
The Koopa threw another balloon, this time hitting Mario.  
"Hey-a, watch-a where you're-a throwin,' huh?" he shouted angrily.  
"Yeah!" seconded Luigi. "You're-a washing the paint off-a the shuffle- a board course! Hold-a up!" Bowser walked away, laughing.  
After seeing Ness, Dr. Mario, DK, and Kirby, Zelda walked to the bow of ship, where Link was standing. "Hi," she said softly.  
"Hello, princess," he said. "See everyone?"  
"Yes," Zelda said. Then she laughed. Link raised an eyebrow. "Sorry. I just can't get the image out of my mind of Samus and Captain Falcon. He was annoying her again, and she kept beating him up."  
Link laughed. "Geez, I really hope that I don't have a girlfriend like that some day."  
"Oh, but she's not really his girlfriend, because she hates him." For some ODD REASON, she was blushing. Then, Peach's voice rang out of the loud and obnoxious loudspeakers.  
"Fellow Smashers, we are now approaching the dock of Altea!"  
Link rolled his eyes, as his fellow sailors cheered. Zelda gave him a confused look, but remained silent. Strange.what kind of grudge did he hold against Altea anyway?  
They heard the gangplank lower, and heard the "Greetings-a, Altea! It's-a me, Mario!" speech. Marth and Roy boarded the ship. All the people who had gathered at the dock cheered wildly, and Link put his face in his hands.  
"Aren't you going to go see Marth?" he questioned. Zelda looked surprised.  
"No, why should I?"  
"Well.no reason, I guess. I just thought you might, you know, be anxious to see.him. That's all."  
Zelda gave him a look. "No it's not." She sighed. "You think I'm his 'girlfriend', don't you?" Link glared into space. "Well, I'm not. He may think it, but I'm not! I mean, just look at Samus and Captain Falcon!" Link sighed.  
"All right," he said. "I guess I won't.jump to conclusions anymore."  
"Hey, Zellie!" Peach's voice called out. Slightly reluctantly, Zelda turned, and saw her friend, with Marth and Roy right behind her. They were both grinning. They rushed forward, each grabbed one of her hands, and kissed them in an annoying gentlemanly fashion. Zelda glanced at Link out of the corner of her eye. He had left.  
"Lovely princess," Marth said. "It has been much too long! They really ought to consider holding this tournaments more often." He winked, and Zelda laughed nervously.  
"Well-l, I'd better be going. I-I uh, need to, to, uh." she looked desperately at Peach for help.  
"Help Jigglypuff!" the Mushroom princess exclaimed, shocked, slapping her forehead. "We forgot all about her, didn't we Zel?" And with that, the two princesses dashed off.  
"Baka!" Roy shouted, slapping Marth's forehead.  
"Hey, it's not my fault she ran off to save some stupid pokemon," he retorted. "And it takes one to know one, BAKA!!!" 


	2. Arriving at Peach's Palace

It was a lovely morning at the palace in Hyrule. Their princess was jumping up and down excitedly. It was her favorite time of year. TIME FOR THE SUPER SMASH BROTHERS MELEE TOURNAMENT!!!!!!!!  
"Uh, princess," Link said to Zelda, who couldn't keep still. "The boat will be here any second, so.calm down."  
"OKAY!" Zelda shouted, finally stopping moving. They were both standing on Hyrule's dock, waiting for the Mushroom kingdom boat to pick them up. They were hosting the tournament this year.  
"Well well well, if it isn't the princess and her gallant hero," came a voice behind them. They swiveled around, only to see their arch-nemesis, Gannondorf (or Ganon). He laughed, and held out his hand. Link hesitated and shook it.  
"Participating again, Ganon?" he asked.  
"Of course," he answered. "Why would I miss out on the chance to whip your butts without punishment? And on national television!" He laughed, and Zelda rolled her eyes.  
"You sound more excited than me," she said. Then, the moment they'd been waiting for, the boat pulled into the harbor! "YES! YES YES YES!" Zelda exclaimed. "They're finally here."  
Ganon looked up at the church clock. "And right on time. My my, that pudgy plumber is quite punctual, isn't he?"  
Slowly, a ramp lowered down to the dock. And, true to Ganon's word, a pudgy plumber appeared. "Greetings-a Hyrule!" he shouted. "It's-a me! Mario!" The crowd at the harbor cheered. Then, out came Princess Peach.  
"Princess Zelda, Link, and Gannondorf, would you please board the ship!" she called out.  
Without a moment's hesitation or dignified pause, Zelda ran up the gangplank, and embraced Peach. "Oh, Peachie! It's been so long! Well, only a year really, but that's still long! TOO long to be away from one of my dearest friends!"  
"Yes, I know!" Peach whispered. Link, Ganon, and Mario were shaking hands.  
Peach walked up to Link, and hugged him (a little too tightly, thought Zelda), and pecked his cheek. "Welcome, Link!" she said. The gangplank rose up from the dock, and the Hylians cheered.  
"Good-bye!" Gannondorf shouted, waving. "I'll miss you!"  
"You know someone?" Link asked incredulously.  
"No, that's not the point!" They both continued waving.  
  
Zelda and Peach started walking around the deck, arm in arm. "So, have you picked up anyone else yet?" the Hyrulian Princess asked. "  
  
Yes," Peach answered. "We've gotten Fox, Falco, Samus, Captain Falcon, and, uh.well, everyone except Marth and Roy. Altea is our last stop, you know. Would you like to see them?"  
  
"Oh yes!" Zelda answered breathlessly. Peach led her into a room, where an armoured figure was beating up a man in a racing suit.  
"AND THE NEXT TIME YOU DARE ASK ME FOR A KISS, I'LL LEAVE YOU WITH A LOT MORE THAN BRUISES TO REMEMBER ME BY!!!!" the one in armor shouted. Then she turned, and saw the two princesses. "Oh, Zelda! It's so wonderful to see you!" She took of the helmet, and shook her head of blonde hair.  
"Samus!" Zelda exclaimed, extending a hand. "So wonderful to see you again." She looked down at Captain Falcon. "So.I guess Falcon's still trying to get you to go out with him, right?"  
"Yeah," Samus answered, rolling her eyes. "Geez, don't men get it when girls say no? No means no!"  
"Well, I certainly know what you mean," Zelda responded. "You don't know HOW many times my father has tried to marry me off to some dork." She shivered. "That pocket protector still gives me nightmares."  
"Samus, do you know where we might find Fox and Falco?" Peach inquired. Samus pointed to a door on their left. "Thank you. 'Bye, Captain Falcon."  
  
"Show me your moves," Falcon said wearily, saluting them.  
"Riiiigggghhhtttt," Zelda said, laughing.  
Fox and Falco were playing pool. Zelda and Peach crept in silently, and the two pilots' backs were too them. Then, suddenly, "HI, GUYS!!" they yelled at the top of their lungs. Fox's cue stick dug into the felt tabletop. The bird and fox turned, and grinned, bowing.  
"Good morning, princesses," Fox said. "Lovely to see you, Zelda. However, I'm afraid you've ruined our pool game. Of course, I was winning anway."  
  
"Were not!" Falco retorted.  
"Was too!" Fox yelled back. The two royal women decided to leave them to their quarrel, and left in search for Mario and Luigi.  
The two brothers were playing shuffleboard on the deck. Zelda flashed them a smile, and they stopped playing.  
"Hello-a, Zelda!" Mario said. "It's-"  
"I know," said Zelda giggling. "It's-a you, Mario!" The four of them broke into laugheter. "I'm sorry. Goodness Luigi, it's nice to see you! Three hundred and sixty five days sure do drag by!"  
  
"They-a sure do, Princess-a Zelda!" Luigi said.  
  
"Please just call me Zelda," she responded. "Please, continue your game."  
"PIIIII-KAAAAAAA-CHUUUUUUU!!!!" A flash of lightning came from within the ship.  
"Oh no, not again!" Peach shouted. She and Zelda ran into a room.  
  
Pikachu was inside, with a moustache and monocale drawn onto his face. Jigglypuff was in the corner, bound a gagged.  
  
"She must have sung him to sleep," Zelda deduced. "And drawn on his face." It was Jigglypuff's favorite prank.  
  
"Pika-pi, pikachu!" the rodent exclaimed angrily.  
  
"Uh, pardon?"  
  
"He said, 'That pokemon is a hazardous creature.'" A purple cat floated into the room. Zelda recognized him as the psychic pokemon Mewtwo. "I suggest that you two get your royal tushies out of here. Some rather.disturbing actions may ensue." The princesses quickly left.  
Just as Zelda closed the door behind her, she saw a bucket of water drop on Peach. It was followed by several water balloons.  
  
"What the-" the Mushroom Princess looked up, only to see Bowser rolling with laughter. Then the two princesses began to laugh.  
  
"Hi, Bowser!" Zelda called up. "You missed me!"  
  
The Koopa threw another balloon, this time hitting Mario.  
  
"Hey-a, watch-a where you're-a throwin', huh?" he shouted angrily.  
  
"Yeah!" Luigi seconded. "You're-a washing the paint-a off the shuffleboard- a course! Hold-a up!" Bowser walked away, laughing.  
  
After seeing Ness and Kirby, Zelda walked to the bow of ship, where Link was standing. "Hi," she said softly.  
  
"Hello, princess," he said. "See everyone?"  
  
"Yes," Zelda said. Then she laughed. Link raised an eyebrow. "Sorry. I just can't get the image out of my mind of Samus and Captain Falcon. He was annoying her again, and she kept beating him up."  
  
Link laughed. "Geez, I sure hope I don't have a girlfriend like that some day."  
  
"Oh, but she's not really his girlfriend, because she hates him." For some ODD reason, she was blushing. Then, Peach's voice came out of the loudspeakers.  
  
"Fellow Smashers, we are now approaching the dock of Altea!"  
  
Link rolled his eyes, as his fellow sailors cheered. Zelda gave him a confused look but remained silent. What kind of grudge did he hold against Altea anyway?  
  
They heard the gangplank lower, and Marth and Roy boarded the ship. All the people who had gathered at the dock cheered wildly, and Link put his face in his hands.  
  
"Aren't you going to go see Marth?" he questioned. Zelda looked surprised.  
  
"No, why should I?"  
  
"No reason, I guess. I just thought you might be anxious to see.him. That's all."  
  
Zelda gave him a look. "No it's not." She sighed. "You think I'm his 'girlfriend', don't you?" Link glared into space. "Well, I'm not. He may think it, but I'm not! I mean, just look at Samus and Captain Falcon!" Link sighed.  
  
"All right," he said. "I guess I won't.jump to conclusions anymore."  
  
"Hey, Zellie!" Peach's voice rang out. Slightly reluctantly, Zelda turned, and sawy her friend, with Marth and Roy right behind her. They were both grinning. They rushed forward, grabbed her hand and kissed them in an annoying gentlemanly fashion. Zelda glanced at Link out of the corner of her eye. He had left.  
  
"Lovely princess," Marth said. "It has been much too long! They really ought to consider holding this tournaments more often." He winked, and Zelda laughed nervously.  
  
"Well-l, I'd better be going. I-I uh, need to, to, uh." she looked desperately at Peach for help.  
  
"Help Jigglypuff!" the Mushroom princess exclaimed. "We forgot all about her, didn't we Zel?" And with that, the two princesses dashed off.  
  
"Baka!" Roy shouted, slapping Marth's forehead.  
  
"Hey, it's not my fault she ran off to save some stupid pokemon," he retorted.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
A/N: well?!?! Whaddya think? PLZ REVIEW! I'm dying to know what you think!! 


	3. Did somebody jump off the poop deck?

Peach and Zelda slowly walked back to the room they had seen the puffy pink ball in earlier.  
"You.don't like him, do you?" Peach asked cautiously.  
Zelda laughed. "Is it that easy to tell?" she asked. "Ugh! Ever since I met him and Roy, it's been me this and me that, it just gets SO annoying! They're almost as bad as the guy with the pocket protector, if not WORSE!"  
Peach winced. "Ooh, that's saying something!"  
They found Jigglypuff still sitting in the corner, gagged and bound as they had left her. Feeling slightly guilty, the royal pair walked up to her, and she smiled quite warmly.  
"We're sorry for not freeing you sooner," Zelda apologized. "Mewtwo warned us to leave before we could do anything."  
"Jigg-jig!" the pokemon squealed, smiling brightly, tears forming from her immense happiness.  
"Wait a second," Peach said, coming to a halt. "NOW I remember how I lost the last match last year!"  
"What does that have to do with this?" Zelda asked slowly.  
"Jigglypuff sang me to sleep, and KICKED ME OVER THE EDGE!!!" Peach yelled in rage. Jiggly looked at them, aghast.  
"Hey, she did that to me too!" Zelda exclaimed. "Sorry Jigglypuff, you're going to have to stay like that for a little while." Just as they were turning to leave, a flash of lightning ran right between Zelda's legs.  
  
She turned abruptly, and saw Pichu. He was smiling, and bounced into her arms. She was slightly taken aback by the rodent's actions, but hugged him back. "Hiya, Pichu! I completely forgot to see you!"  
"And me," came a voice. Zelda looked up, and saw Young Link--Link's younger self (it's a long story). The Hylian princess laughed, and embraced the child. "Why weren't you at the docks with us at Hyrule?" she asked him.  
  
"Don't you remember?" he asked, pretending to be shocked. "I spent a week with the Ice Climbers, and we already established tha-"  
"THE ICE CLIMBERS!!" Zelda shouted, throwing her arms in the air. "I FORGOT ABOUT THE ICE CLIMBERS!!! Where are they, Nana and Popo?" At that second, two tiny hooded figures bounced into the room, and into her arms. They came at her with such force, that she was knocked to the ground, laughing.  
"We thought that you hadn't come!" whined Nana, the ice climber dressed in a pink sweater.  
"Yeah!" Popo agreed, wearing blue.  
"Well, don't worry yourselves," she answered. "I'm here."  
"Speaking of which," Young Link cut in. "Guess who else was with the Ice Climbers, and is with us now?"  
"Who?"  
"HI, ZELLIE!!!!!!!!!!"  
Zelda turned around, and saw none other than her younger cousin- Summer.  
"S-Summer?!" she whispered. The elven child jumped into her cousin's arms. Summer was a year younger thanYoung Link-she was nine. In fact, the two of them got along together extremely well. Peach had to grin at the two girls' bond. "Oh Summer, it's been so long!" 'Zellie' said. "I'm so glad you've come to see me!"  
"Yes! Yes!" Summer chirped. "And I can't wait to see you knock out everyone else in the tournament!" Zelda blushed.  
"Young Link," she said. "Have you seen your older self? I want to re- introduce him and Summer."  
"Yeah, he's helping Fox and Falco fix the pool table you broke."  
Zelda and Summer walked out the room. "Oh, it was barely my fault at all. And if it was, Peach helped. A lot." "No I didn't, it was all you!" Peach shouted with laughter at her friend's retreating back. She turned to Pichu, Young Link, and the ice climbers. "Do me a favor, will you?" she asked them. "Untie her. I can't bring myself to do it." She pointed at Jigglypuff, who was glaring at her evilly, with a look of revenge clearly on her face. To Zelda's grand displeasure, Marth and Roy were also in the pool room. She noticed that the felt top of the board had been fixed. "So who repaired the holy pool table?" she asked sarcastically. "I did," Marth, Roy and Link lied. "I did," Fox answered truthfully. The swordsmen glared at him. "So glad for you," Zelda said. Link gasped, and squatted down next to Summer. "Don't tell me it is?" he asked. Summer giggled. He gasped again, making Zelda turn her laugh into a cough. "This couldn't POSSIBLY be.Summer? That cute adorable toddler princess, could it? No! How could she have grown into such a lovely young girl already?!"  
"It's me!" the person whose name is also a season laughed. "Summer, Link! I'm so happy to see you!" She jumped into his arms. It had been four years since they'd seen each other (two years longer than Zelda). They both laughed.  
"UGH!" Falco shrieked. "Why is everyone so miserably happy! No one loves me, no one!" He buried his face in his hands. Then, Samus came dashing into the room.  
"I like you, I like you!" she shouted hastily.  
"You.do?" Falco whispered.  
"Well no, not really. But I do compared to that freak Falcon!"  
"OH, SAAAAMMMUUSSS!!!" everyone heard a voice shout. "WHERE ARE YOOOOOUUUUU?!"  
"Aaah!" Samus gasped. "He's found me! Bye, guys!" With that, Samus Aran slid through a door into the broom closet.  
Gasping for breath, Captain Falcon crawled into the room. "Have any of you guys seen Samus?" he asked.  
"She-" Summer began, before Zelda cut her off.  
"She jumped off the poop deck and committed suicide," the elven princess said, with a face of false worry.  
"OH NO!!!" the racer shouted, completely spazzing out. "I MUST RESCUE HER! GOOD-BYE!!!" He ran out the room, flailing his arms.  
The smashers all laughed, making Summer thoroughly confused. "It's a long story," Zelda explained.  
Samus came out of the closet, grinning. "The 'poop deck'?" she laughed. "It's too much! Very original. Phew, that ought to get Falcon off my hands for a while. Thanks, Zel!"  
"Any time!" she answered. "Besides, I know you'd do the same for me." There was a patriotic yelland a loud splash, followed by a horrified shriek. Peach came running into the room.  
"SAMUS!" she shouted. "You.you mean mean girl, you!"  
"What did I do?" Samus asked innocently.  
"You hurt Captain Falcon so badly, that you caused him to go and JUMP OVERBOARD!!!"  
"No I didn't, Zelda did."  
".what?"  
The two girls hooked arms with Peach, laughing, and began to explain the whole situation to her as they left the room.  
"Wanna join our pool game guys?" Fox asked. "We could start over."  
"Yeah," Falco said. "He was losing anyway." Fox grunted, not wanting to start another argument (even though he had been winning).  
The three swordsmen agreed to join in the game. Marth's score started plummeting, and Mewtwo entered the room. In rapid Japanese, Marth started yelling at his cue. Everyone but Roy turned to Mewtwo. He smiled.  
"I don't think I can print that!" They exchanged glances.  
"YO! DUDES!" came Peach's voice over the loudspeakers. Overdrive guitar started playing in the backround.  
"LIKE DUDE, DINNER IS IN TEN MINUTES, SO LIKE, HURRY IT UP AND GET OVER TO THE DINING ROOM!!" Zelda shouted, in a disguised low and husky voice. 


	4. Shuffleboard and mayhem

Eventually, everyone had gathered in the dining room thing. Peach was at the head of the table, looking at the congregation of smashers. She gave a thumbs up to Bowser, who burped loudly. Everyone stared in their direction, and Peach smiled winningly at them. A large screen lowered behind her. On it appeared a photograph of Brinstar Depths.  
"Home, sweet home," Samus whispered.  
"As you all know," Peach began. "This is Brinstar Depths. I would like to once more go over the.situations of the tournament. Now, you see this battlefield?" She pressed a button on a controller she was holding, and the photo zoomed out, revealing a large circular force-field like thing. "This is a forcefield! When you are inside it, no. erm, fatal injuries will come to you. In fact, you won't be able to get bruises or die. Only bleeding and broken bones! Now, ain't that just great, y'all?" The smashers applauded approvingly (except Ganon, who was frowning slightly). "And just one more thing.after the game is one, the force field tightens and you are not able to wa-fall off the edge."  
"Heeeyyyyy," Captain Falcon said slowly. "Samus didn't jump off the poop deck to commit suicide. She's sitting right over there, across from Zelda!"  
"NNNOOOO, YA THINK?!" Samus said in a mocking dumb tone. Zelda laughed. Then, the eating and conversing began.  
"So Link," Zelda said to the elf next to her. "How'd the pool game go? You did play a game, didn't you?"  
Link smiled. "The way you know everything.Actually, to be quite honest, I won. Though I must admit, it was a tough game."  
"Really? Oh, good for you!" Her smile faded somewhat when Marth began trying to engage her in conversation (he was sitting on her other side).  
"Oh, cue sticks are nothing Princess," the Altean prince said.  
"Please, try to be a little more formal," she said as kindly as possible. "I mean especially you-you're royalty as well."  
"All right then," Marth said grinning. "Anyway, you know what they say: the sword is mightier than the.cue stick."  
"Forgive me," said Link, cutting in. "I've never heard that one before." Once more, Zelda was forced to transform her laughter into a hacking cough. "Although don't get me wrong, Marth. I'm not so bad with a sword myself."  
Marth stood up. "Ready to check on that?" he said, with a hint of anger.  
"Oh, Marth," Zelda sighed with exasperation. "You'll have your chance soon enough, when the tournament begins. And besides, that way no one gets hurt too seriously."  
"I hope you're not worrying about me, Zelda," he said. "I've yet to lose a battle to anyone. I'm undefeated!"  
Link snorted. "If Jigglypuff had managed to lull you to sleep, you'd have lost that last match, and gone snoring off into the lava. I guess I gave you that last touch of adrenaline by shouting, 'Geez, Marth! Your reputation is at stake!"  
At that, Zelda fell off her chair laughing. Link laughed too, and offered her a hand to help her back up. He sniggered when she sat straight, trying to look dignified. It was very clear to him that she was mocking Marth and Roy's manner.  
Peach's eyes were focused on Zelda and Link. She wished that she was down there with them, and not at the head of the table. It was so miserable, watching Zelda enjoying herself so much, when Peach longed to do the same. It was dreadful sitting between Bowser and Gannondorf, who seemed to be obsessed with talking about kidnapping princesses. She sighed, and looked over at Link's back pleadingly.  
Zelda, who had still been talking to Link at this point, saw Peach's misery. She excused herself and walked up to her fellow princess. Summer was skipping along behind her. Peach forced a smile.  
"Hey, Peach," Zelda said. "Wanna have a game of shuffleboard? I couldn't help but notice you sitting here so alone and sad looking." She smiled brilliantly, and Peach couldn't help but smile back.  
"Oh, all right," she said. "Does Summer want to come too?"  
"Yes," Summer answered. "I don't really play shuffleboard, but I'll just, uh." She looked over at Zelda, who was giving her a let-us-have-some- time-alone face. "I'll stay here. After all, dinner's not over yet." Peach nodded, and the two of them walked outside.  
"Where are Zel and Peach going?" Link and Marth asked Summer. They glared at each other.  
"To play a game of shuffleboard," she answered. "But I think they wanted to talk or something, 'cause Zel warned me not to follow her."  
Meanwhile, Peach was starting the game of shuffleboard. After scoring, she turned to the Hylian princess.  
"All right Zellie," she said. "Tell me. "What's the real reason that we're out here? You wanted to talk about something that's bugging you, don't you?"  
Zelda chewed her tongue, trying to find the right words. "Well."  
"Is it about Marth?"  
"Yeess.." Zelda drawled. "He's not leaving me alone! It is getting so annoying! I'm just trying to talk with Link and Summer, and he barges into the conversation! And Roy too, he's not helping. I have this nagging feeling that the two of them are up to something."  
"No, they're not!" Peach defended. "They just.Ahg, you know! They like you! You know it too, you just don't want to admit it!"  
"Oh.erg! Fine, I admit it! But I wouldn't mind so much if I was trying to be nice and courteous to them! AND I'M NOT!" Zelda shoved her puck angrily across the board, scoring fifteen points.  
"Then.does that mean you have 'feelings' for someone else?" Peach asked innocently. Although Peach could be a great friend, sometimes she could really start prying. Zelda realized that the Mushroom Princess was trying to get something out of her, and she wasn't about to let it happen.  
"Peach, what you say has absolutely nothing to do with my affairs, and will not change my opinion whatsoever! So please, stop prying!"  
"I wasn't trying to pry!" Peach scoffed. "Besides, YOU are the one who asked me to come out here, so don't get all mad at me!" Zelda sighed.  
"You're right Peach, I'm sorry. I think I've a little too much excitement today. Too many people jumping into my arms.little people." She brushed away a loose strand of hair. "I'm really sorry, Peach. I think I've got to go to bed and get some rest."  
Peach rested her arm on her friend's shoulder. "All right dearie, it's okay. I don't blame you. No doubt you're tired. I'll see you in the morning."  
"Good-night, Peachie."  
"Good-night." Peach stared after Zelda. Funny how she turned the tables on me when I was trying to find out what her big deal is.she thought to herself.  
Walking back to the dining room, Peach bumped into Link. "Oh, hi Link," she said. He smiled.  
"Hi Peach. That shuffleboard game was awful short. Where's Zel, did you beat her so quickly she's gone to hide her face in shame?"  
"Not just that," Peach answered. "She jumped off the poop deck and committed suicide." They both laughed. "But really, the poor dear was feeling a bit tired, and went off to bed. AND I suggest that you don't go wandering around to her room." As they started returning to the table, Gannondorf got up.  
"Going somewhere, Ganon?" Link asked.  
"As a matter of fact, yes," he answered. "I happen to be a quick eater, and was going to retire or something of that sort. I'll see you later." He swiftly left the dining room.  
"So-a Peachie," Mario said. "How is-a Zelda at-a playing shuffle-a board?"  
"Oh, she's all right I guess," the princess answered. "Probably not her strength, but she's a fair player. I mean, I don't really think she could beat Luigi."  
"Ooh, that was-a some insult to-a Zelda, Peachie!" Mario shouted.  
"Hey! That's-a no funny!" Luigi retorted with annoyance. "I just-a happen to-a be a beginner!"  
Link and Peach laughed.  
"My my, what an adorable couple," Mewtwo whispered to Jigglypuff.  
"Jigg, Jiggly-puff puff?" she asked.  
"Yes, Link and Peach! What did you think I meant, Nana and Bowser?!" He rolled his eyes. Suddenly, Jigglypuff's pink puffy face got angry. "Don't start having your fanciful daydreams about revenge," the psychic cat said, annoyed.  
"PUFF PUFF JIGGGLLLYYY!!" the poofy pink puffball exploded. Everyone in the room stared at her. Pikachu smacked her.  
"Pika-pi!" the rodent scolded. Everyone turned to Mewtwo.  
"She said 'I don't like this broccoli,' and he said 'I made it,'" the cat lied. Pikachu and Jigglypuff glared at him. "Now they're asking me to join their sides. But, I decide to remain neutral. However," he said turning to them, and speaking like they were small children. "You're free to ask everyone else what they think of the broccoli." The two pokemon looked down at the table, fuming their revenge at him. He smirked, and everyone resumed eating.  
Suddenly, a high-pitched scream erupted from outside the room!!! DUN DUN DUNNNNNNN!!  
"What was that?" Peach screamed. Marth looked around the room.  
"It must have been-"  
"Zelda!" Link finished for him. "She's the only one outside this room! Well I mean, besides Ga-GANNONDORF!! OH NO!! SHE'S UNPROTECTED!!! WHO KNOWS WHAT HE COULD BE DOING TO HER?!?" 


	5. What HAS Gannondorf done to Zelda?

All the smashers and Summer ran onto the deck, following the sounds of Zelda's screams. Captain Falcon gasped.  
"I KNOW WHERE SHE IS!!!" he shouted. Everyone looked at him impatiently. "She got into a fight with Ganon, and they both.FELL OFF THE POOP DECK INTO THE OCEAN!!!"  
"Shut up about the poop deck!" Samus shouted. "That's the kind of thing that's only funny the first time!" Another shriek from Zelda, and now several moans were added.  
"Quick!" Link shouted. "She must be in her room!" They all ran to her quarters. Sure enough, the sound was coming from behind her door. Then they all heard Ganon. laughing evilly! "LET US IN!!" the hero of time shouted. The door was locked.  
"Oh no," Ganon said under his breath.  
Using their swords, Marth and Roy cut off the doorknob, and it slowly swung open. Zelda and Gannondorf looked up. Then they fell over laughing at Marth and Roy's positions, ready to pick a fight. Everyone was stunned.  
"What?!" Ganon asked finally.  
"B-but-princess, you we-were rest-" Link stammered. Zelda cut him off. She was still laughing. The smashers waited for an explanation.  
"I just couldn't get any sleep, and so I got up to get a drink of water. Gannondorf was walking around, and I asked him if he wanted to.HA HA HA!!! Ganon, they thought you were.attacking me! AH HA HA HA!"  
"What's so funny?" Peach shouted. "What was with the screaming?"  
Gannondorf took over. "The princess invited me to play a game of poker! So naturally, I couldn't resist! She screamed because she lost to me SOOO horribly!!" The pair started laughing hysterically again, until Zelda remembered she had lost.  
"Oh, poop," she said. She handed him her (priceless) diamond braclet.  
  
Samus grinned broadly. "I thought there was something a little false about that scream."  
All the smashers except Link and Peach departed to their own rooms. Gannondorf got up. "Well," he said. "Good game, Princess. Good-night, all."  
  
"I'll beat you next time!" Zelda shouted after him. Link and Peach were still staring at her, bewildered. She began picking up the cards, and noticed they were staring at her. "What?!" she asked them with annoyance. "Goddesses, you act like we were playing strip poker or something!"  
"Good-night Zel," Peach said, leaving. Zelda raised her eyebrows at Link.  
"Gooodd-niiiggghttt, Link," she said slowly, implying for him to leave.  
"I'll see you tomorrow, Princess," he said.  
"ZELDA! Just Zelda!" she shouted after him, as he closed the door.  
"Good-night, Zelda." 


	6. They arrive at Mushroom Kingdom

"OOH! OOH OOH OOH!!!!"  
Zelda was standing over the rail of the ship, resuming her habit of jumping up and down excitedly. The ship was approaching Mushroom Kingdom.  
"So that's where Peach lives?" Summer asked, stepping on her toes to see over the railing.  
"Yes," Link answered. He lifted Summer onto his shoulders so she could get a better view.  
"Wow!" the small girl squealed. "It's almost as beautiful as Hyrule!" The three elves laughed, and Peach walked up to stand beside them.  
"Oh, it's so good to be coming home!" she shouted. Summer's smile twitched. "I mean I can just get so sea sick sometimes. And home sick, as well." She inhaled, and then made a face like she was going to vomit. Zelda pinched her nose and fanned the air with her gloved hand.  
"Phew!" she choked. "What on earth is that nasty stench?! It's absolutely malodorous!" Samus walked up to them, wearing her helmet.  
"In case you're interested," the bounty hunter said. "Captain Falcon has taken the liberty of officially making the poop deck a poop deck." She walked away, leaving her friends stunned. Summer started laughing.  
"Did.she just say what I think she did?" Peach said after a silence. Link and Zelda nodded. "Oi. This poop deck thing has gone way too far. MARIO!"  
Mario walked up to them, accompanied by Luigi. "Hello-a princess. It's-a-"  
"Mario, I know it's-a you. I just called you," Peach sighed with exasperation. "Please go up and tell Falcon to stop damaging the premises." Mario's smile faltered somewhat. "NOW, YOU PUDGY PATHETIC PLUMBERS!!" The two brothers ran off in the direction of the poop deck. Peach's friends stared at her.  
"That was an ungrateful way to thank the man who saved your life on countless occasions," Zelda commented, rolling her eyes.  
"You know, I wouldn't be talking if I were you," Peach whispered to Zelda. The hylian princess looked over at Link, and the sudden eye contact surprised him. He quickly looked down, and Zelda considered what Peach said, and she wondered if Link had heard it.  
There were sounds of shouts and screams from above, followed by a frighteningly loud explosion. They all gasped, and looked up. Zelda and Link ran into the ship and to. the poop deck.  
Captain Falcon had fainted, and Mario and Luigi looked petrified. Samus seemed to be angry, though it was hard to tell due to her helmet. She was breathing heavily, and was lowering her arm.  
"Sorry about that, Zelda," she said. "The Mario brothers were getting on my nerves. I had no choice. I fired a power ball." She noticed Link's gaze shifting over to Falcon. "Oh don't worry, Link. He's not hurt, he just fainted from shock."  
"What did Mario and Luigi do to you?" Zelda questioned.  
"Well they said the only way to stop Falcon from continuing to vandalize the poop deck was if I taunted him off it. Of course, there was no way I was about to, I mean I just got him off my back, and I wasn't going to get him slobbering over me again."  
"So.you shot the power thing to.?" Link asked.  
"Frighten them off. And it helped them too, because Falcon passed out, and no more pooping on the poop deck. You know, I think I should tell Peach to make a sign that says that."  
The smashers dragged Falcon off the now poopy poop deck. Except for Samus, who was kicking his feet as they dragged across the wooden boards. Link and the Mario brothers took Captain Falcon to his bed, and enlisted the assistance of Dr. Mario.  
"He will-a be all-a right," the doc said. "Just-a leave him-a here with me for a little-a while."  
"YAY!" Samus shouted. "Falcon's off my back for another day!!"  
"Yes, and it seems that all you had to do was take a little action and make him faint," Zelda joked. "You just have to do that every day, and he'll never bother you again.  
"WHAT A GREAT IDEA!!" Samus shouted.  
"Uh, I hope you realized I was joking," Zelda said slowly.  
"Yeah."  
Peach spoke up. "Besides, I will not have any violence until you are better protected on the battle grounds!"  
"Safety, safety, safety," Link sighed. "You're an obsessive, Peach!"  
Samus and Zelda exchanged smiles, and Peach folded her arms in an annoyed manner. Mario's voice came over the loudspeakers.  
"Fellow-a smashers," the plumber began. "Since-a the Princess-a Peach is-a neglecting her-a duties by telling you-a all that we have-a docked at- a the Mushroom-a Kingdom, I am-a telling you now: We have-a docked at-a the Mushroom-a Kingdom!"  
There were cheers, but Peach seemed ready to explode. "THEY WERE DISTRACTING ME!!" she shouted at the loudspeaker, pointing at Link and Zelda who were laughing. Then she ran off to find Mario.  
The gangplank lowered onto the dock, and Zelda and Link walked over to it. They glanced at Luigi, who motioned for them to go on. They looked at each other, grinning, and started to casually stroll down the plank. The residents of the Mushroom Kingdom were shouting their heads off.  
Zelda was waving and nodding her head in a royal fashion to random people in the crowd. Link was quite unsure of what to do, and simply waved. They were followed by Ness and Kirby.  
"HiiiiIIi!" Kirby said, waving his stubby arms over his head.  
Summer quickly ran to catch up with Zelda. "Wow," she said, looking at the people around her. "They are sure a lot different than elves!" Many of the people in the crowd looked like they were wearing mushrooms on their head.  
Young Link and the Ice Climbers were doing cartwheels down the plank (a real crowd pleaser).  
Next came Dr. Mario and Mario, who were carrying Captain Falcon out on a stretcher. There was a gasp from the crowd, and then they fell silent, as Falcon slowly sat up and blinked.  
"Show me your moves," he said before collapsing. The loud cheers were revived enthusiastically.  
Zelda and Link turned with interest to see how Marth and Roy would get off the ship. The hylian princess found it quite funny how Roy tried to imitate Marth's royal manner and seem dignified.  
"Flirts," she heard Link cough. She pretended not to notice.  
Marth and Roy began walking down the plank, backs straight, and their heads tilted slightly upwards. Roy was trying to look superior, but Marth's expression was hard to translate.  
"Geez, just watching them makes me think I could stand a few more years at finishing school!" Zelda whispered to Link. He laughed (which had of course been her goal from the beginning). 


	7. The smasher's breakfast and the longawai...

Eventually, everyone had gotten off the boat, and they were all strolling off to Peach's castle. Summer had managed to hitch a ride on Jigglypuff.  
"Puff-Jiggly-puff puff," the pink puffy poofball commented. Zelda turned to Mewtwo, who sighed.  
"She said 'don't expect me to do the same for you.'"  
Link and Zelda exchanged glances, and grinned.  
"WHEN ARE WE GONNA EAT?!" Bowser and Gannodorf shouted.  
"Geez, hold your horses," Peach said.  
"I don't have a horse," Bowser replied.  
Peach rolled her eyes. "That was a baaaad joke, Bowser."  
"I wasn't joking. I don't have a horsie."  
Peach gave him a look, then said, "We'll be eating breakfast in my castle as soon as we arrive."  
"YAAAYY!!" Bowser and Ganon cheered.  
"Hey Peach," Zel said.  
"Yeah?"  
"I don't want you too be as miserable as you were last night. Would it be possible for you to sit with Link and me this morning?"  
"SURE!" Peach erupted. Link and Zelda stared at her, and she blushed. "Heh, heh .sorry. But thanks, I will!"  
There were many oohs and aahs from the smashers as they approached Peach's lovely palace.  
"It's-a very beautiful, huh?" Mario asked.  
"YES YES!" the ice climbers shouted, bouncing in perfect synchronization.  
And with that, they all rushed up and into the building. They oohed and aahed at the interior decorating ("I just luuuv whatcha done wit yar room, dahlin,'" Zelda said in a weird accent). Summer was especially intrigued, having never been anywhere near Mushroom Kingdom before.  
Finally, to Bowser and Ganon's pleasure, the smashers all sat down at the dining table (except for Falcon, who had been abandoned by Dr. Mario, and was still lying on the stretcher). Luigi pressed a button on the wall, and 30 Toads (waiter-like people) appeared out of nowhere and walked to him. The plumber whispered something to them in a huddle, and they all vanished to the kitchens.  
"So have any changes been made in the tournaments this year, Peach?" Link asked, sitting down.  
"Oh!" Peach exclaimed, almost tripping over her chair. "I completely forgot!" She clapped her hands for attention, and all her friends turned in her direction. "Linky here just reminded me.we have changed a couple rules of the melee tournament this year." They all waited for her to continue. "Some smashers thought it to be unfair that you could re-start games at any time you wanted-" Bowser, DK, and Ganon rolled their eyes and twiddled their thumbs "-so, contestants are no longer allowed to request a battle to start over until there is only one player remaining." Peach took a breath. "You are also no longer able to choose your opponents, team members, or battle grounds." There was an uproar.  
"THAT'S LUNACY!" Samus shouted. "I COULD BE PLACED WITH MR. INVALID OVER THERE AT ANY TIME!!!" She indicated towards Falcon.  
Peach grinned. "What a good idea. Mario, make note of that." Samus took off her helmet, and threw Peach an icy glare.  
Then, the Toads returned, bearing enormous platters, and set them on the table. They hobbled off as quickly as they had appeared.  
"FLAPJACKS!!!!" Ganon yelled, smiling hugely. He started funneling them into his mouth, with Marth and Roy giving him disapproving looks at his awful manners.  
"Really," the Altean prince's friend said. "Instead of bellowing like a barbarian, you should say something more like, 'My gracious, how extraordinary, flapjacks!' A true gentleman never shouts."  
Pikachu, who was walking towards the table (from the little mouse's room), caught a whiff of Captain Falcon. You must understand, the dear captain still smelled terrible after the whole poop deck affair. Covering his mouth, Pikachu ran to his seat. Gannondorf, who was turned and talking to Young Link, did not notice the pokemon vomit on his precious flapjacks. He turned around, and looked at Marth, who was staring back at him.  
"What are you looking at?" he asked.  
The Altean prince hesitated before answering and turning back to his own foodstuff. "I wouldn't eat that if I were you." Ganon was confused.  
"What's wrong with it, it's just a normal-" he finally looked down at his plate, and his eyes widened before he erupted. "OH MY GOODNESS!!!!!" (Plankton voice)  
It was now Pikachu's turn to start whistling and twiddling his thumbs.  
"Peach!" Ganon shouted. "Can I have some more flapjacks? This poopy pokemon threw up all over mine!!" Pikachu got very angry.  
"PIKA -pi?! Chu-Pik!" he shouted. Mewtwo rolled his eyes.  
"He said, 'I'm the poopy one? Look at Pooptain Falcon over there!'"  
Ganon got some more flapjacks, and Pikachu calmed down.  
"Ooh!" Summer whispered. "What's this?" She pointed down at her plate.  
Zelda leaned over and said, "That's a-" her eyes widened. "LINK! LINK! LOOK, SHE'S GOT FROSTED FLAKES!!"  
The two elves stood up and sang in loud voices, "THEY'RE MOOOREE THAAAN GOOD---THEEEY'RRRRE GRRREAT!!!" Gannondorf joined them on the last words. Then Link and Zelda noticed everyone was staring at them. They grinned at each other, then apologized quietly. Zel's cheeks were flushed with excitement.  
"I haven't done that since Impa bought our first tv set!" she exclaimed. Then she frowned. "Oh yeah.now I remember why she threw it out."  
  
"You know, I never really even liked Frosted Flakes," said Link.  
"Me neither," Zelda agreed. "I guess I just like the song. Except that I wouldn't really want to be Tony."  
"That was.charming," Roy stated awkwardly, walking up to them and smiling rather forcefully.  
Goddesses! Zelda thought. How lame can this guy get?! She smiled and thanked him in an odd manner. Of course, Link wasn't about to be polite.  
"What, you've never heard the frosted flakes song before?" he asked, looking at Roy like he was from Jupiter. "Hey, that reminds me."  
"Of what?" Zelda asked.  
"A joke. What do Tony the tiger and Winnie the Pooh have in common?" Roy stared at Link blankly. "They both-" he tried to stop laughing. "Have the same-" more laughter. "MIDDLE NAME!!! AH HA HA HA HA!!" He and Zelda burst out laughing. Roy chuckled nervously, then walked away. Link and Zelda stopped laughing abruptly.  
"Brilliant, Link," she said to him. She grinned at him.  
"Oh, it was nothing. Just come up with a couple lame Pooh jokes, and it'll drive anyone away."  
"Ooh!" Peach said, not liking to be left out of the conversation. "That reminds me of another joke. Why did Tigger look in the toilet?"  
"Why?" Summer asked.  
"Because HE WAS LOOKING FOR POOH!!" Everyone laughed, except for Pikachu and Captain Falcon (who was awake, but not at the table).  
"Pikachu-pi!" the rodent exclaimed angrily. Peach raised her eyebrows.  
"He said 'That wasn't funny.'"  
"I don't get it," Captain Falcon said. "I mean, isn't it only natural that Tigger would be looking for Pooh if he was missing?" (everyone sweatdrops).  
Samus rolled her eyes. "Stop being such a dork, Falcon," she said.  
"Ganon, I have a question for you," Young Link said. "Why do you always kidnap Zelda? I mean really, what's the significance of it all?"  
"Ah!" said Ganon, wiping his mouth with a napkin. "Now that is a good question! No wait, it's not. THE TRIFORCES, STUPID YOUNGER VERSION OF THE HERO OF TIME!" he shouted. "Oh, that reminds me. I wonder when we'll be starting training."  
"Me go see," DK volunteered. He pushed himself away from the table, and walked towards Peach. "Peach," he said.  
"What is it, DK?" she asked.  
"Ganon want to know when training start."  
"Well, considering that the first matches will be beginning in two days, we'll start after everyone's finished eating." DK returned to his seat and gave his info to Ganon.  
"The first matches are in TWO DAYS?!" Link and Zelda asked.  
"Yes," Peach answered, surprised at their surprise. "I mean, two days is enough for you to train, isn't it?"  
"Well, well uh, I guess so," Link mumbled, turning back to his empty plate. "Oh, well I'm done. And it looks like everyone else is, too." The smashers had indeed finished, and were looking around, waiting for further instruction. They turned their attention to Peach as she stood up.  
"Your bags have been brought off the ship and are being taken to your rooms," the princess said. "So you may go up, unpack or whatever, and then go to the gym or court yard for.practice." 


	8. A secret never to be known

Everyone stood up and began to walk to their rooms (which they had been shown earlier). They all started walking down the hallway, and Falcon was walking behind them.  
"Oh shoot," Samus whispered.  
Of course Falcon, who had been doing the Three Little Pigs to his fork as opposed to listening to Peach, thought that they were all playing a game of follow the leader.  
"I get to lead next, Zelda!" he shouted to the woman in front.  
"Go to your room, Falcon!" she laughed.  
"Geez, what did I do?" he asked, as everyone departed.  
Summer and Zelda were bunking together. "Wow!" said the younger one. "Two days! I can't believe I'll actually be able to see the Super Smash Brothers Melee Tournament for real!! I mean, instead of watching it on tv."  
  
"Good," said Zelda, who was beginning to take out some of her things. "I'm glad you're so excited."  
"What, to see you beat up everyone in person?!" Summer shouted. "It'll be the best experience of my life! I bet my friends'll all be soooo jealous!" She also began to move her stuff from her bag to one of the drawers.  
Zelda was taking out one of her many pairs of gloves, when a small note fell out of it. She picked it up, and smiled as she read it.  
"Whatcha got there, Zellie?" Summer asked.  
Zelda, who had seemed to have gone into her own little world, was brought back to earth. "Oh, uh.it's nothing." She stuffed the note back into her glove, still smiling to herself with immense pleasure. The note had been from Link, several years ago on Valentines Day. That was the infamous day when her father had introduced her to "the pocket protector guy." In an effort to cheer her up, Link had sent her a letter that said:  
  
"Roses are Red, Violets are blue,  
and all I can say is that guy with the pocket protector  
IS NOT FOR YOU.  
-Link  
P.S. Hint hint"  
  
Once she had received the note, the Hylian princess had slipped it into her glove so her father wouldn't find it.  
"Not even remotely romantic," Zelda whispered to herself with a laugh.  
"What?" Summer asked.  
"N-nothing."  
  
Meanwhile, Fox and Falco were having a heated argument.  
"YOU GOT THE TOP BUNK LAST YEAR!!" Fox shouted.  
"I DID NOT!" Falco shouted back.  
"DID TOO!"  
"DID NOT!"  
Link knocked on the door, and opened it slowly. Fox and Falco turned sharply in his direction, breathing loudly. The swordsman looked around the room.  
"Uh.guys?" he asked.  
"WHAT?!?!" they screamed.  
"Why are you arguing about the bunk?.there are two twins in here."  
And suddenly, it hit them. Link was right. So, there was no top bunk, and there would be no fighting over it. Of course, there was the problem about who got the bed closest to the wall.  
  
Humming to herself, Zelda walked into Peach's gym with Summer.  
"Wow, I can't believe it!" the girl who wasn't Zelda shouted. "I actually get to watch one of the Super Smash Br.sisters TRAIN!!! AND FIGHT! I AM SO TOTALLY LUCKY!!"  
Zelda smiled to herself at her little cousin's enthusiasm. "Since you're so excited about it," she began. "Why don't you decide what you want me to work on for you first?"  
"OKAY!" Summer shouted, totally into the idea. "Make that flame thing come out of your fingers!!"  
"All right," Zelda laughed. She looked around for a high spot, and chose a large row of wooden planks. Using a rope, the princess climbed up to it. "I need to be in a high area in order to do it," she explained. Carefully, Zelda stepped onto a podium-like thing that was built beneath her target. She jumped up, aimed at the board, and a huge flame burst out of her hand. The boards were reduced to a crisp.  
As she began falling (and Summer started screaming hysterically), Zelda reached a hand down beneath her, planning to land gracefully. However, before she had a chance to hit the mat, someone caught her in their arms.  
She turned her head, and was looking directly into Marth's eyes. He was smiling, apparently convinced that he had saved her life. She blushed slightly, and pushed herself out of his tight grip.  
"Marth! Heh.heh! So.nice to see you.erm, t-thanks."  
He laughed. "Oh, I knew they should have only kept the brothers thing in this tournament. I mean really, you could have like died if I didn't jump in and catch you."  
At this, Zelda was enraged. She knew perfectly well she could have landed without getting hurt in the slightest. Before she could stop herself, she put her arm straight ahead and stiffly in front of her. It was only inches away from Marth's confused face. "YAH!" She pulled back her arm then threw it forward again, releasing a very powerful (and yet small) ball of fiery energy. Just in time, Marth ducked, and the flame singed his hair. He looked at her with a expression of great confusion. "Princess," he said. "Whatever was that for?" Suddenly, Zelda realized what she had done, and quickly lowered her hand. "Oh, I was, um.showing Summer some other moves of mine," she responded lamely. She grinned weakly, as Marth felt his hair for damage. "Well I think it was uncalled for to show her din's fire on me," he said. "But I guess I'll let it go, seeing as how I'm not injured seriously." He stared at her for a moment, then turned and started to walk towards the courtyard. "I'll uh, be in the court yard if you.need me." Zelda rolled her eyes, and Summer laughed. "It's not funny, Summer." "Hi, Zelda." Link was approaching her, and she smiled winningly, remembering the note she had rediscovered in her gloves. "Want to uh, do a bit of training together?" he asked bravely. "Sure!" she answered, smiling again. As they walked off to a different section of the gym, she decided to bring up the note. "Link, do you remember that dorky guy with the pocket protector that I met a few years ago on St. Valentines Day?" she asked. Link shivered. "How could I forget, Pri.Zelda?" She laughed. "That was the same day you sent me that first-could you call it one?- valentine!" She laughed, and Link blushed furiously. "Oh yeah, I remember that," he answered. "I was telling you how horribly you two matched up." Zelda was burning to tell him what else he'd written, but decided to wait. "Okay," she said. "How should we start?" Summer, who had been tagging along behind them, said, "Ooh, Link! Use your bombs! Those are so cool!" Link laughed. "All right. I guess you can try to dodge 'em, Zel." Suddenly, he reached behind him and pulled out a bomb. He threw it right at the princess, who put her hands over her head and ducked. The hero of time laughed. "That was so very graceful," he remarked sarcastically. Zelda prepared herself this time, as Link tossed another bomb in her direction. She leapt over it, and it missed her by several feet. "Ha, ha, you missed," she teased. Then she glanced at the pink gown she was wearing. "This gown is getting annoying. I'll be right back." She quickly exited the gymnasium, and Young Link entered. "Hiya, older self," the boy said. "Hello, Mini-me," said Link. He laughed hysterically, and Young Link rolled his eyes. That joke was getting reaaallly old, and he could not even compare in any way to Mini-me. It was almost insulting. "Hi Summer," Y. Link said politely. "HI, YOUNG LINK!!" she shouted in his ear for no apparent reason. "Can I watch you practice? Zellie's gone off to change or something." No one had ever requested to watch Young Link train for anything, and he was quite flattered. "Sure," he said. They walked off to a wall with ten ropes hanging by it from the ceiling. "Okay Link, now I'm ready." Link turned, and his jaw dropped. He had never, EVER seen a royal person, let alone ZELDA, dress like this before. She was wearing jeans with flairs, and a Hello Kitty T-shirt. Instead of pearly pink heels, she was bearing Puma sneakers. She ran a hand through her hair, waiting for Link to say or do something. "Uh, uh, uh.ummmm-" "Oh, stop gawking and let's get going. Where'd Summer go?" "What? Oh, she went to go watch me practice." It took a second for Zelda to understand what he just said. "Well, come on, Link! We've only got two days to practice!" Zelda's agility was improved greatly by the jeans, and she wished that she could wear them in the tournament (both princesses were forced to dress royally). Link was astounded by how easily she seemed to be dodging his attacks, and wondered when she'd let him rest. After back-flipping to avoid Link's sword, Zelda noticed that her hero had collapsed onto the hard gym floor. Wiping her brow, she walked over to him and helped him up. "You okay, Link?" she asked. "Uh, just a little tired I think. Mind if I rest?" "Oh, not at all." The two of them made their way over to some benches and sat down. "Link, there's something that I've been meaning to talk to you about." Zelda began slowly. He noticed that she was fiddling absentmindedly with a belt loop on her jeans. "Yes?" Link asked, rolling up his sleeves from the heat (it wasn't really hot, but he was sweating). "You do remember that end-of-the-tournament party Ash, Misty, and Brock held for us last year, don't you?" she asked (the first official tournament had been held in the Pokemon's world). "Yeeaahh.what about it?" "Well, I know that I went with Marth, but I really.wanted.to." For some strange reason, Zelda fell onto Link's lap, in a deep sleep. He looked up, only to see Jigglypuff looking away and whistling. "Hey, what did you do that for?!" he asked, trying not to move too quickly. "She was about to tell me something important, and now I'll bet she's forgotten all about it!" Jigglypuff's face puffed up. "Jiggly-jig, puff puff-Jiggy!" she screeched. Mewtwo, the appointed translator, translated. "She says 'That is irrelevant. She and Peach refused to help me in my hour of need, the.poops.' Ugh, that expression is getting thrown around waaay too much." The two pokemon walked away, leaving a thoroughly annoyed Link. 


	9. Sowho DOES Zelda like? Mewtwo and Summer...

As the hero of time tried to wake up Zelda, Summer and Young Link were watching them from the other side of the gym. "Wow," said Young Link, as Jigglypuff and Mewtwo approached. "My older self and your cousin are such an adorable couple!" "PUFF, PUFF JIGGY JIG!!" the pink balloon erupted. "She said that they aren't, and I agree," Mewtwo commented. "Why not? I think Young Link is right," Summer said. "Becaauussee," Mewtwo drawled. "It's obvious that Peach has a thing for Link, and they make a MUCH better couple than Link and Zelda. I mean look, that elf princess is double-crossing Link, if she's trying to get togther with him. I mean just look at her and Marth!" "My cousin doesn't like Marth!" Summer blurted. "She told me so herself, she said he gets on her nerves!" "Reaaallyy? Then why on earth did she attend Misty's party with him last year if she despises him so?" Mewtwo smiled, knowing he had won the small argument. Suddenly, an idea struck him. "Does, uh.Marth know about Zelda's disliking him?" "Of course he doesn't!" Summer whispered loudly. "No one knows how he would react to it! He thinks she's madly in love with him or something!" "And.what would happen if I told him that?" "You.you wouldn't!" Summer exclaimed. "Yeah, you won't!" Young Link added. "OR ELSE I'LL TEAR YOU LIMB FROM LIMB!!" He held up his sword to emphasize this statement. "Puff jig?!" Jigglypuff stated, holding up her fist. Annoyed, Summer andYoung Link turned their heads to Mewtwo, who sighed. "She said 'Oh yeah?' You know, this translating is getting really, really, REALLY annoying." "Hey, what's going on?" Unnonticed by all of them, Link and Zelda had approached them. "Me, have you been threatening Jigglypuff?" Link asked. "EEEP!" Jigglypuff squeaked, and ran off. There was a stunned silence. "She.she.DIDN'T SAY HER NAME!!!" Zelda shouted, smiling from ear to ear and jumping in the air. "She said something that we could actually understand!!" The five of them applauded as she ran out the door. "Hey Zelda, nice look," said Peach, walking up to the group. She was wearing her normal attire: A pink dress and heeled shoes. "Thanks," Zelda responded. "It's really too bad they don't let us wear pants for the games. I mean really, just because we're royal." "I know! I mean look at Nana and Samus!" "It's really quite evil, I think.well, gotten any training done yet, Peachie? "Actually, no," Peach answered. "I was helping Captain Falcon find his room.not a very good sense of direction you know, and he missed it earlier." "Want to go out to the court yard? I need to practice throwing..." "Sure! Just make sure you aim for the swimming pool and don't send me flying into a tree." "Don't worry, the pool's pretty big. I'm not that bad." Laughing, the two princesses walked off together. Feeling slightly rejected, Link walked off to one of the water fountains. Mewtwo turned back to Summer and Young Link. "You see? It's no wonder she asked Peach if she wanted to train in the court yard. MARTH is out there, remember?!" ".hey, how'd you know that?" Young Link asked suspiciously. "Hello!! I'm psychic here!" "Wow, really? What a koinky-dink! I'm psychic too!" came Ness' voice. He and Kirby were coming in from the court yard. "Have you guys seen Dr. Mario?" His fellow smashers shook their heads no. Kirby sighed. "Marth got injured," he explained. "What happened?!" Young Link and Summer asked. "Apparently, he and Roy were annoying Zelda. So naturally, she used Nayru's love to get him back. Roy backed off once he saw what she did to Marth though. Hooo-eee! She sure knows how to show her stuff." "Show me your moves!" Captain Falcon shouted from the other end of the gymnasium, seconds before Bowser crushed him. Kirby and Ness walked off to find Dr. Mario. "THAT PROVES OUR THEORY!" Young Link and Summer shouted. "Ah, I give it a week," Mewtwo grunted. "C'mon, Jigglypuff." Suddenly, there came a loud splash, followed by shrieks of laughter. Link stuck his head outside, and saw Peach walking out of the pool, drenched. He raised an eyebrow. "Oh, hi Link!" she shouted to him. "I'm just helping Zelda practice her throwing!! We thought the pool was a good place to aim for." "Right!" he said. He looked around for Zelda, and expected to see her somewhere near the pool. To his astonishment, she was clear on the other side of the yard, waving. He waved back, and returned to his own training. 


	10. What to watch, what to watch

At dinner that night, everyone was considerably cheery, looking forward to the event that was to occur in a couple days.  
"I'll be cheering for you, Link!" Summer said.  
"Thanks," responded Link and Young Link. They looked at each other, then at her.  
"Uh, both of you, I guess!"  
"Yeah!" said Young Link, turning to his older self. "Wouldn't it be so cool if we got put on a team together again?" Link nodded. He thought back to last year, when they had agreed to be each other's team mates. They had been undefeated, until an ugly game against DK and Gannondorf. "Oh Zelda," Peach said. "Impa and your father are coming over tonight." "Oh, really?" Zelda responded. "I'm so glad! Impa didn't make it last year. I was so disappointed." "Impa?!" Summer asked with excitement. "I haven't seen her or your dad for so long! Should they be here in a few hours, Peach?" Peach nodded. "I think so." "OOH OOOH!" Gannondorf and Bowser shouted from the other side of the table. "OHHHHH PEEEEAACCHH!!" "WHHAAAATTTT?????" she shouted back. Everyone else had stopped talking and was now looking at the three of them. "CAAN WE WATCH A MOOOOVIEEEE AFTER DINNER???" they asked, sounding similar to small children. Peach rolled her eyes. "FINE!" she shouted. And suddenly, for no obvious reason, everyone started scarfing down their food. Not two seconds after Peach had said "fine," everyone shouted, "WE'RE DONE, PEACH!!!" Peach, who had hardly touched her cream of mushroom soup, stared at them all, her spoon poised inches from her open mouth. "Uh.okay then." "TO THE TV ROOM!!!" Gannondorf shouted, pointing his finger in the air "Um, we don't have.a.tv room," Peach said quietly. "WHAT?! WHAT KIND OF A PRINCESS ARE YOU?!?" "I HAVE AN IN-DOOR MOVIE THEATER!!" "YAY!!" The smashers all ran out of the dining room, Peach in the lead. She opened a door, and everyone jammed inside. The Mushroom Kingdom princess opened a cabinet filled with DVD's. "What should we watch?" she asked. Everyone scanned the shelves. Unfortunately, no decision came quickly. "Gone with the Wind!" shouted Ganon, DK, and Bowser. "Alaska!" the Ice Climbers suggested. "SHREK!" Young Link and Summer shouted. "THE AWFUL TRUTH!" No one could decide. There was chaos. "How about I decide?" came a voice. The smashers stopped killing each other and turned their heads slowly towards the door in unison. King Harkinian stood there, Impa at his side.  
  
"Still as immature as ever," Zelda's nursemaid laughed. "What do you think we should see, dad?" Zelda asked. "Hmmm.I know! .Impa?" "Let's watch the Lord of the Rings Trilogy!!!" she shouted, jumping up and down. Everyone looked at each other, and nodded approvingly. They all settled down, and the movie began. "Oh, that Legolas is soooo CUTE!!" Peach whispered to Zelda. "Tell me something I don't know!" agreed Impa, who was wedged between Link and Zelda. "HE'S SO HOTT!!!" The three of them screamed. "Oh brother," said Samus, rolling her eyes.  
  
Eventually, the movie ended. Ness quickly got in and entered a DVD which no one saw.  
  
"NO!! WE ARE SO NOT WATCHING ALL THE STAR WARS MOVIES!!" shouted Samus and Zelda. Everyone told them to be quiet. Towards the end of the last star wars film, Zelda was leaning against Impa, asleep. It was at this time that the nursemaid decided she wanted to leave.  
  
"I've had a long journey. I want some rest," she explained. "Besides, it's already midnight." Cautiously, Impa got up and left. Slowly, the sleeping beauty began to tilt. She ended up with her head in Link's lap. "Errmmm." he tried slowly to shift his weight without disturbing her. It didn't seem possible. So instead, Link decided to leave her as she was, and was actually quite satisfied. After that, Gannondorf put in Gone With the Wind. "That was waaay too long," Young Link commented, once it finished. "It was not!" Bowser sniffed, wiping a tear from his eye. "Only you and Summer didn't like it! You don't understand it all!! You're both too young and immature to understand the dramatic concepts of TRUE LOVE!!" "Well you have to admit, the ending was kind of dumb," said Summer. Kirby put in It Happened One Night. At one point, when Ganon and Bowser were laughing rather loudly, Zelda woke up abruptly. "Wha-wha-where happened?" she asked drowsily. Then she looked up, and saw Link smiling at her. She blushed deeply and regained her composure. "Remember me? I'm the fellow you slept on last night," he said, right along with Clark Gable. She laughed softly, and then wondered why he hadn't woken her up.It was very sweet of him not too.she thought to herself. 


	11. Squirrels

The next morning, Impa followed Zelda to the gym to watch her train. Summer was skipping along behind them. "Just out of curiousity, why is it people love watching us train?" she asked. "I dunno," Summer answered. "It's cool. We can see you do your moves closer up!" Impa nodded her head. By the time they reached the door, they could hear Link and Marth's heavy grunts. The two of them were having a small sword fight, and Peach was floating above them. Zelda had always coveted that move of Peach's, and thought it must be magnificent to be able to fly like that. Spotting Zelda from the corner of her eye, Peach lowered to the ground and walked over to her. "Hi, Zellie," she said. "Ready for the tournament tomorrow?" "You bet I am, girlfriend!" she responded. They began to walk over to a wall with ropes hanging from the ceiling by it. "Are we doing team battles first, or free for all?" "Team. I guess we're alternating, because I remember last year the first matches were free-for-all." They both chose a rope and began climbing. "You know, I don't know why I practice climbing ropes," Peach said. "I mean its pretty pointless. Most of the time, I can just float." Zelda laughed. "That's a cheap trick," she said. "Only as cheap as your Sheik move!" Peach retaliated. Zelda supposed that was right. "I guess I ought to work on that." Sliding down the rope, Zelda began her graceful transformation into Sheik. She looked over at Marth and Link, who were still fighting. Aiming as well as she could, she released a number of small darts. They each landed in the back of Link's belt. "Woah-ho!" he said. "What was that?" he turned, and saw a shadow flying above him. He looked up, and saw Sheik flipping in the air, and landing between the two swordsmen. There was applause from Impa and Summer. "Gotcha, Link!" Sheik laughed, and morphed back into Zelda. "That still creeps me out," said Fox said, entering the gym with Falco at his side. "I mean that whole sex change thing. It's just so unnatural!" "So what?" Zelda questioned. "It means I've got practically double as many moves as you." Fox and Falco whipped out their guns and shot a line directly over Zelda's head. "That was a warning, Princess!" they laughed. Peach came marching over to them. "FOX! FALCO! THERE WILL BE NO SHOOTING THOSE WEAPONS UNTIL YOU ARE ON THE BATTLE GROUNDS!!" she shouted angrily. Fox rolled his eyes. "Okay, okay." "PIKACHU!" "PICHU!" "PIKACHU!" "PICHU!" Zelda laughed. "I wonder what those two are up to?" she asked, heading outside. She saw, to her horror, Pikachu and Pichu were terrorizing a family of squirrels into a tree. Link watched from inside the gym as Zelda tried to calmly explain to the two pokemon that they were frightening some very close relations. He had to grin when Pichu got annoyed, and shot a bolt of lightning between her legs (again). She was enraged at this, and probably would have started attacking him if Peach hadn't run outside to stop the madness. "So.why don't you-a do it, all-a ready?" Link turned, and saw Mario behind him. "Oh, hi Mario. What are you, uh, talking about?" The plumber laughed. "You are-a such a bad-a actor, Link!" he exclaimed. "You know-a what I mean- a! Just ask-a her-a out on a date, all-a ready!" Link looked horrified. "Who, Zelda?!" Mario rolled his eyes. "Noo, Samus! Of-a course, Zelda! She-a wants you to! I did-a a little bit of-a eavesdropping yesterday. She was-a telling Samus and-a Nana that she wished-a you would-a ask her!" Link still looked horrified. "No, I-I couldn't. What if she.turned me down? I don't think I could take that kind of rejection!" "Oh, come-a on, Link!" Mario shouted. "Pull-a yourself-a together! You have- a saved her-a life a million times! How-a could she-a refuse?!" The hero of time rolled his eyes. "Oh, and I suppose you've asked Peach for a date before?" he asked sarcastically. "Sure-a I have, stupido!" he answered, much to Link's surprise. "She only-a turned me down-a once, out of the six-a times I ask. She-a had another event that -a she had to attend-a. Trust-a me, Zelda will not-a refuse!" And with that, the pudgy plumber hobbled off, leaving Link to ponder his words. He was suddenly brought back to earth when Zelda accidentally smashed the gym door in his face. "Oof!" Zelda turned, red-faced. "Oh, I'm sorry Link, I didn't see you!" She pulled him out from the closed door. He noticed she had dirt marks all over her face. "Zel, what happened?" he asked. "Oh, Pichu and Pikachu gave me a bit of trouble," she grunted. "It's all right, though. Those little rats are so annoying! Well, I gotta go. I'm helping Peach and Nana with lunch. Bye." She left , and he stared after her, considering what Mario had told him. 


	12. To ask or not to ask

At lunch that day, Link was sure to sit far away from Roy and Marth. He knew they both liked Zelda as well, and he was trying to think of way to 'ask-a her out.' He sat inbetween Luigi and Mario. "So, are-a you gonna do it?" Luigi asked him. Link supposed that Mario had told his brother about the advice. "I.think.so." The Mario brothers cheered. "SSSSHHH!!!!" "So when are you-a gonna do it?" Mario asked, nudging Link in the ribs. "Uh, um.." "You should-a do it right-a after lunch!" Luigi suggested. "Ask-a her to do it-a tomorrow! "What?! So soon?! But the tournament's tomorrow!!" "Of course!" Mario exclaimed. "Some-a thing nice and-a romantic! There's nothing-a like a date-a after a good-a fight, eh?" "Well..well.."  
  
By the end of the meal, when most of the smashers had left to resume their training, Link was walking up to Zelda. He froze half-way. He could see her at the other end of the room, talking with Impa. "Go-a on!" Mario said, pushing him closer. "Or else-a Luigi will-a ask her to go-a out with you-a instead! And-a how stupid would-a that make-a you look, huh?!" His voice was getting slightly louder. Suddenly, Zelda, who was facing Link and Mario (Impa's back was to them) started shouting. "EEEWW!! THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO WAY I AM GOING OUT WITH THAT FREAKISH BRAT!!!!" With that, she stalked away. Link buried his face in his hands. "She doesn't like me!" he wailed. "SHE DOESN'T LIKE ME!!!! WAAAAHHHH!!!" And with that, he dashed out of the room. The Mario brothers stared after him. Luigi twirled his moustache. "Come on-a, Mario," he said, grabbing his brother's arm. "We gotta go find-a Zelda." The two of them walked up to Impa, and asked where Zelda had went. She said she wasn't sure, but assumed the gym. They thanked her, and headed in that direction. Sure enough, they found her practicing kicks against the gym wall. She stopped once she saw them approach, and smiled. "Hi Mario. Hi Luigi." They did not return her grin. "Princess, we-a have a bone to pick-a with you!" Mario shouted. "Mario, why on earth are you so upset?" Zelda asked innocently. "You know-a perfectly well what-a we mean!" Luigi answered. She gave them a confused look, and they finally gave in. "You were-a so cruel when-a you turned down-a poor Link!" they shouted. She was quite taken aback. "What do you mean, when I turned down Link?" "On that-a date, Zellie!" Mario screeched. "What date?" It seemed apparent that the princess was extemely confused. "Come-a on, you no fool-a us!" Mario continued. "It was-a just now, in-a the lunch room! You said-a that you'd-a never-a go out with that 'freakish- a brat!'" She was stunned. "I wasn't talking about Link!" she stammered. "No-a, huh?! Then who?!" "I had a fight with Pikachu and his pre-evolution today. Impa said that I ought to take the Pikachu out for walk, to make up, you know? But they had gotten me so annoyed, I refused and called him a brat." "Wait, wait wait.." Mario said. "So you mean-a that you were-a calling that pokemon a freakish-a brat, not-a Link?" "Yes!" Zelda sighed, with exasperation. "Wait a minute.did you say Link was going to." She threw her arms up. "ASK ME OUT ON A DATE?!" The Mario brothers nodded. Suddenly, her angered expression broke into a smile and she started cartwheeling around the room. "YES! YES! YES!! AH HA HA HA!!!" And with that, she went dashing out the room to find Link. She ran around the whole premises, and finally found Link sitting on a bench in the courtyard. She rolled her eyes and slapped her forehead, knowing that the person she had spent half an hour looking for was right outside where she started. As she got closer, the princess noticed his eyes were red, and suddenly realized that she had never seen Link cry before. He hadn't acknowledged her presence yet. "Link?" "Go away. Who ever you are. Leave me alone." "Link?" The hero of time turned sharply, and his expression turned to one of fear. "P-Princess! I-I." Suddenly, he completely broke down. He dropped to his knees sobbing hysterically. Zelda sat on the bench, and tried with almost no avail to pull Link up with her. Goddesses! She thought. He's gone completely bonkers! "Please Zelda," he begged. "Torture me no more!" "Oh Link! I'm so sorry! I came to apologize!" "For what?! Calling me a freakish brat?!" "But Link, that's what I'm trying to say!! I wasn't talking about you! I was referring to Pikachu! Goddesses, I was on the totally opposite side of the room! How could I have caught what you asked?" "You mean.that..you don't think I'm a freakish brat?" "Of course not! How could I say that, after all you've done for me?!" She paused. "You shouldn't be so self-centered, you know." He finally managed a laugh, and then remembered what he was supposed to be asking her. "Uh, I-I uh." She smiled dazzingly ( yes, I KNOW it's not a word, but you get the picture). "It's all right Link," she said. "I would luuuvvv to go do something sometime. (do NOT read in Lisa voice!!!) How about sometime after the tournament tomorrow?" Link was stunned. "S-sure!!" "See you later," she said. He watched her slowly walk away. Fox walked up to him. "Hiya, Link. Wazzup?" "SHE SAID YES!!!! I AM SO LUCKY!!!" Link screamed in Fox's ear. "Ow, what did you say?" Link calmed down. "I'm meeting Zelda after the tournament tomorrow!!" He ran into the gymnasium to find Mario and Luigi. "GUYS! GUYS!" he shouted. "SHE SAID YES! SHE SAID YES!!!" "Way-a to go, lover-a boy!" Mario shouted, slapping his back. "I-a knew she wouldn't-a turn you down!" 


	13. Different Shades

That night, Zelda was having trouble sleeping. She was so excited for the next day, she just couldn't get her eyes to close. She got up to get a glass of water. As she approached the bathroom, she saw Peach coming out of it. "Oh, hi Zelda," she said. "Can't you sleep either?" "No!" the Hylian princess whispered loudly. "I'm so excited for tomorrow! "Me too!" Peach responded. "Oh, but not just for the tournament, but for what I'm doing after!" Peach looked confused. "I'm GOING OUT WITH LINK!!! WHEEEEE!!!" And with out even getting her glass of water, Zelda skipped back to her room. Peach was left standing outside the bathroom door, with her jaw dropped slightly. Did Zellie just say what she thinks she did? Peach stumbled back to her own room, and fell into her bed. How on EARTH could Link ask Zelda out? It seemed near to impossible! Of course inside, Peach was furious. SHE was the one who had a so-called crush on Link, not Zelda! This was not turning out right.something had to be done.everyone assumed that Marth was with Zelda. "NOT LINK!" she found herself shouting. She clasped a hand over her mouth, and lay back down, then had a nightmare.  
  
She saw herself, reading in the library with Zelda. The sun was shining brightly outside the window, until it suddenly began to rain! Peach looked up. Then, out of nowhere, she leapt up and grabbed a sword off of a shelf. Zelda looked at her in horror, and a cloud of black smoke billowed into the room.  
  
Peach woke with a start, sweating profusely. The dream was horrid.the look on Zelda's face, and her own crazed expression. She wondered what the black smoke could possibly represent-then it hit her. Dark Peach had come back. ~*~*~*~*~*~ Yes, I know it was short! but that's okay, right? plz r&r! 


	14. Battle Numero Uno

The whole castle was excited. Breakfast went by surprisingly fast, and everyone was outside the doorways much sooner than they had anticipated. A large TV crew was standing outside a stadium, which was filled to the brim with spectators. The smashers turned their attention towards the reporter with a mic. "Aaaand here they are folks! The super smash brothers!!!" The crowd cheered wildly.  
  
"Now, everyone do their taunt in front of the camera," Peach instructed. "In alphabetical order." "Awwwwww, man!" complained Bowser and Zelda. "What are you whining about?" Zelda asked. "You get to go first, and get it all over with!" "So?" asked Bowser. "Going first can be nerve-racking sometimes!" One by one, the smashers did their taunts. Zelda ended with a bang, doing what Marth called her "sultry taunt." The crowd continued screaming. "Aaand now, the first battle!!" the reporter shouted, receiving a piece of paper from the Master hand. Everyone waited intensely. It was the first match, and no one knew who they were paired up with or against. "It takes place in HYRULIAN PALACE!!" Ganon and Zelda cheered. Impa and Summer whistled in the crowd. "Teeaam blue," declared the reporter. "Will be Mario aaand Zelda!!" The spectators cheered. Zelda smiled. "Wish me luck," she mouthed at Link. He gave her a thumbs up. She smiled again. "Playing against Team Red: Donkey Kong aaaannnddd LINK!!" Zelda and Link felt their jaws drop, as they slowly turned towards each other. They gaped mouthlessly at the Master hand. "P-Peach!" Zelda stammered, as Link and DK were changing to red outfits. "I can't battle Link! He's the one who's saved my life so many times!! It seems just so.ungrateful!!" "I'm sorry Zel, there's nothing we can do," Peach said, handing Zelda her pair of blue gloves. "Oh, thanks." After being thanked, Peach walked slowly to the trenches in the stadium (where non-participating smashers sat). As Zelda pulled on a glove, something fell out of it. She picked it up, and, as she had thought, it was Link's old Valentine. She knew that if Mario hadn't walked over to her to ask if she was ready, Zelda would have got into a crying fit of hysterics. "It's-a okay, Zelda," Mario whispered, as the stepped onto their platforms. "If-a you want, you can-a take Donkey-a Kong, and I'll-a do Link." "Oh, thank you Mario." They were transported to the Hyrulian Palace, about eighty feet in front of Link and DK. "3.2.1.GO!!" Mario and Link ran towards each other, and began fighting immediately. However, it seemed Zelda and DK both had the same tactic: to remain stationary, and wait for their opponent to attack first. After deciding DK wasn't going to move, Zelda did her taunt. He slammed his fists on the ground, and charged towards her. "Watch-a out, Princess!" she heard Mario shout. Zelda looked up, and grinned. DK was about three feet in front of her, when a box came falling out of apparently no where and hit his head. To the Princess' delight, a jackhammer fell out of it. She picked it up, and began to automatically swipe at the air. Gasping, DK tried desperately to run away. Unfortunately, he was rather slow. After two hits, he was sent skyward. Meanwhile, Mario had gained possession of a pokeball. He tossed it at Link, who quickly stepped back. A single Beedrill came out of it, and flew off the battle field. Then suddenly, a whole swarm of Beedrill came charging at Link, who ducked. Unluckily for him, the pokemon were flying at all altitudes. After getting stung repeatedly, he fell over the edge.  
  
Eventually, the scores stood thus: Zelda had two lives, and Mario, Link and DK each had one. Opening a party ball, Zel picked up a mine and threw it. Then, she leapt on top of DK and wrestled him to the ground. He punched her back, and she was sent skidding several feet. The princess immediately stood up, and grabbed him. Twirling the giant ape over her head, she threw him right over the mine. At that same moment, Mario was being tossed by Link onto the same mine. The two smashers collided, hit the mine, and were sent flying away. "Maaaaaaaaaarrrriioooooo!" "DONKEY KONG DEFEATED!!.MARIO DEFEATED!!" came Master hand's voice over the loudspeakers, before the news reporter took back over. Zelda and Link stared. There were just the two of them left now to battle it out. The Hylian princess had been dreading this. "Oh Link, I can't hurt you!" she cried. "I can't! We've got to request to end the battle now!" "No!" Link responded. "We can't, remember? The rules have been changed from last year!" He slowly unsheathed his sword. Zelda jumped onto a ledge, and picked up a bat that lay there. "All right Link. I'm ready! In the infamous words of Captain Falcon: Show me your moves!" The two of them began to battle furiously, sword and bat clashing. "Impa! Impa!" Summer squeaked. "I can't watch it!" "I don't believe it!" the King grunted. "I'm amazed that she didn't ask to end the game!" "She's not allowed to!" Summer sobbed. "The rules were changed!" "Augh!" Zelda cried, doubling over. Link was shaking. The princess touched her cheek with a trembling hand. She removed it, and blood had seeped onto her glove. In a sudden well-placed move, Link parried at Zelda, and her bat was sent flying from her hands. She mournfully watched it sail out of sight. While Zelda was distracted, Link threw a bomb at her. She heard it coming, and managed to elude it. Somersalting her way towards him, Zelda kicked his legs, sending him to the ground. She scrambled to her feet. "Well, I say!" the reporter shouted. "That's sure not showing gratefulness to the elf who's saved your life on countless occasions, Zelda!" "WOULD YOU SHUT UP?!" she yelled to the news dude. "YOU DON'T THINK I KNOW THAT ALREADY?!" As Link sat there in pain, Zelda worriedly considered letting him win. Then her gaze was attracted to Mario, who was sitting up on a stretcher. He was looking at her pleadingly. Summer and Impa were wringing their hands, fearing that the person they'd come to see play would go down in her first match. It was their first tournament. She could not let them down. Zel picked up Link, electrocuted him beneath her, and sent him flying over the edge. As soon as she'd done it, she regretted it. "LINK DEFEATED!!.GAME!" 


	15. The aftermath

Zelda screamed in horror, clutching her hair. It almost seemed as if she had really killed Link, and she was terrifed to think of how much damage she had undoubtedly done to him. "THIS GAME'S WINNER IS.BLUE!!" Master hand announced. The cameras scanned the crowd, then stopped rolling. Zelda, who was suffering from a burn on her arm (thanks to Charizard) and the cut on her face from Link, jumped onto her platform. It transported her to the trenches, where Dr. Mario approached her. "Zelda, get-a onto this-a stretcher. I must-a take you to the-a healing room." Zelda glanced at herself. "I'm fine, just fine! You don't need to inspect me or anything, I'm fine!" Dr. Mario hesitated. "Are you-a.sure?" "Yes, yes, I'm sure!" she snapped. "Just please, tell me where they will have taken Link!!" The doctor pointed to a door. "Just go down-a the hallway, and-a take the first-a left." Zelda followed Dr. Mario's instructions. The hallway was long and white, and seemed endless. She started cracking her knuckles with exasperation. All the doors were on her right! Finally, she reached a door to the left. It was locked. She banged on it. "Who's there?" came a voice. "It's me, Princess Zelda! Please, open the door!" A nurse attendent person opened the door. Zelda rushed in, and was speechless at the sight before her. She had never been into this room, and she was terrified. Tubes and wires were everywhere, machines beeping and showing weird diagrams, and several stretchers. Of course, only two of them were occupied. "Is that-a you, Zelda?" Mario asked. She walked over to him. "Yes, it's me," she answered. "Oh, Mario, I'm so sorry!" "Don't-a be sorry, princess!" he exclaimed. "I should-a be sorry! Now-a because of-a me, your-a little date with-a Link must-a be canceled. I feel- a so guilty for-a it!" "But Mario, it wasn't your fault," Zelda whispered. "It was just misfortune that we got placed against Link." She hesitated. "If it makes feel any better, we won the match." Mario managed a smile. Then he frowned. "But is it-a really worth-a it?" "Of course!" Zelda blurted, almost automatically. "It was Summer and Impa's first time to see the tournament, and I just couldn't disappoint them." She sighed. "And yet it all just seems so.I don't know, ironic!" "What-a do you mean?" "I mean Link has saved me so many times! And look how I'm paying him back. Landing him in a hospital-on purpose!! If those rules hadn't been changed, then this could have never happened! I should've known this might happen." "Stop-a babbling to me-a, Zelda," Mario said. "Go over and-a see- Link." "Well.whatever you say, Mario." With that, Zelda pulled a chair up to Link's stretcher. He turned to look her in the eye, and she felt horrid when she saw bandages all over the side of his face. He noticed her staring. "When people kick your legs and send you to the ground, I learned that the head isn't the best place to land." He snorted a quiet laugh, but Zelda only burst into tears. "WAAAH!! LINK, IT'S ALL MY FAULT THAT YOU'RE IN HERE LIKE THIS!! I FEEL LIKE SCUM!!!" she wailed. "Zelda, don't do this. Besides, Mario did most of this stuff to me. I mean the tournament is just.for." He had meant to finish by saying "fun," but thought it best not to say so. "Just for what?" Zelda choked. "Fun? I know it's supposed to be, but I never imagined winning a battle could be this hard emotionally!" Link snorted again. "I never knew you were this passionate about anything. I mean, why are you so devastated? You've landed people in this condition before and you didn't mind! Why do you care now? I'm just another opponent, aren't I?" Zelda looked at him, red-eyed. "Do you think that's my opinion of you?" she whispered.  
  
"Well.kind of, yes." "But how could you possibly even imagine that that's what I believe?" she cried. "You are not an opponent! Goddesses! Ganon is an opponent! You--you aren't! You're more than that! FOR GODDESSES SAKES, YOU ARE MY HERO!" Link stared at her, and she calmed down a bit. "All right, I didn't mean for that to sound as corny as it did. I mean you are literally my hero, I mean not like.you know, Robin Hood type of hero or anything." She jumped, as Mario snored loudly. Zelda turned in his direction, and discovered that the plumber had fallen asleep. "Zzzzz..linguini..zzzzzz.." "The poor dear," the nurse sighed, writing something down on a clipboard. Slowly, Link reached up and gingerly touched Zelda's cut. "I'm so sorry Princess," he whispered. She grasped his hand. "Don't be. It's much less damage than what I did to you." She blinked. A singled tear fell from her eye. Zelda stood up. "I'm sorry Link, I've got to go," she said. "I'm supposed to meet Impa and my father." Link managed a grin. "Say hi to them for me," he croaked. Before she walked away, Zelda hesitated. If Peach could do it, why on earth couldn't she? She bent down, and kissed Link's injured cheek (a "peck," if you will). Unintentionally, it lasted longer than she had thought it would. "Good-bye," she stuttered softly, leaving the room. Link was stunned. "Nurse! Nurse!" he shouted. She came running over. "What is it?!" "Quick, am I lying in a beam of light?" The nurse stared at him. "No.more like a beam of sweat. Why?" The hero of time grinned widely. "Never mind." As Zelda stumbled out of the room, she was blushing, and yet amazed at her own bravery. Then, she remembered that Link was still in immense pain. She broke down again. A nurse came out, and took her arm. "Come along dear," she said, guiding her towards the trenches in the battlefield. "Just try thinking about blue birds and singing tugboats." A few minutes later...  
  
Zelda sat down on a bench in the trench (ooh, that rhymes!!). Samus ran up to her, with her arm in a sling. She was missing her front tooth, but was grinning. "ME AND LUIGI BEAT CAPTAIN FALCON!!" she shouted. "Come-a on!" said Dr. Mario, shoving the bounty hunter onto a stretcher. "Hurry it-a up, I'm-a playing in the next-a game!" 


	16. After the Aftermath

The next day, all the wounded smashers had been astoundingly healed (for the most part). Zelda stepped into the dining hall, and noticed that she was one of the first to arrive. She sat down in a chair that was in the middle of the long table. Jigglypuff hobbled up to her, and took the seat to her left. The two had made up, after the pokemon defeated Marth and Roy (with the help of Pichu).  
  
"Hi, Jigglypuff!" she said warmly, hugging the balloon. "You know, you may undoubtedly be one of my new best friends." The pokemon squealed with glee. Zelda frowned. "You know, I think that it is totally unfair that you can understand me, and I find you to be completely incomprehensible." At that moment, Marth and Link entered the room on opposite sides. Zelda motioned for Link to take the vacant seat next to her. He had gained possession of a pair of crutches, and was at a slight disadvantage. Marth was quickening his pace towards the table. Jigglypuff walked up to the Altean prince, who froze in terror. "Puff jiggy jig," she squeaked. "W-what d-did she say?" Marth stammered nervously. "She wants to serenade you," Mewtwo called from the other side of the room. The pink pokemon smiled at him evilly. "AAAHH!!" Marth went dashing out of the room, much to the amusement of Zelda. Jigglypuff shuffled back to her seat. "Thanks Jiggly," the Hylian princess said as Link lowered himself into the chair. "I guess I owe you one." The pink puffy poofball shook her head, clearly saying that there was no need to return the favor. Zelda smiled at her. "Well?" Link asked grinning. "What?" Zelda asked.  
  
"You did signal for me to come over to you, didn't you? Or were you just anxious to get anyone other than Marth to sit here?" "Oh, don't be ridiculous!" Zelda laughed. "I wanted your company. And guess what? They printed out these little schedule type things for us." She lifted a sheet of paper out of her bag. "Now we know when we're playing our battles. unfortunately, it doesn't tell us with whom we are fighting." "Yeah, I think I got one of those too," said Link, reaching into his back pocket. He pulled out a similar schedule. "What a surprise. There are no games for me today. Aren't for a long time, thanks to you." He laughed, and Zelda laughed softly. "How about you?" Apparently, she didn't have any games that day either. "I think Master Hand told me that Mario and I have our next game early tomorrow morning.yes, here it is." "Sssooo." Link said slowly, looking up. "Do you.want.to, um, do something today?" Zelda blushed faintly, answering, "I'd love to." "Great!" Link exclaimed, grinning broadly. "I guess I'll meet you in the court yard this afternoon." "Sure. How's five?" "Just fine." Suddenly, Jigglypuff eeped, as hand roughly grabbed her arm. It was Marth "All right Jigglypuff," he said. "I don't like you, and you don't like me. But we are going to sit and eat together like civilized peo.smashers. Okay?" Jigglypuff nodded, but gestured to the opposite side of the table. Grunting, Marth took the seat directly across from Zelda. Then the other smashers started to file in, and all began chatting away. "So Zelda," Marth began, resuming his old habit of trying to 'engage her in conversation.' "I hear that you wiped out the Hero of Time yesterday!" He started laughing hysterically, and Zelda glared at him. "Well, you know I heard that you and Roy got beaten by a couple of pokemon- one of which is very small and almost powerless," Link shot back. "And that would make for your first loss, wouldn't it?" Marth stopped laughing abruptly. Meanwhile, Summer and Young Link were sitting on either side of Ganon. They were both eating Apple Jacks and Gannondorf was consuming (you guessed it) flapjacks. Suddenly, he banged his fist on the table. "Why do you eat those apple jacks?!" he shouted. "They don't resemble apples!" Summer and Young Link turned their heads sharply towards Ganon. "We eat what we like, shae(see)?!" they said in Brooklyn accents. The two youngsters turned back to their cereal, and Ganon stared at them. "Okkkkayyyy," he said. Peach, who had accidentally arrived late, got the worst seat possible. She was stuck between Bowser and Captain Falcon. The two nut heads of the group. The Mushroom Kingdom princess sighed, glaring at Zelda. Word had gotten to her of the situation between Link and Zelda in the medical wing, and truth be told, she wasn't too happy. Of course, the truth had been slightly twisted. Zelda's "peck" had suddenly turned into a passionate kiss/embrace. The two of them were having such a good time, it was almost unfair. It was unfair. Zelda was no better than she, and yet the Hylian princess was enjoying herself so much more. "So Zel," Marth said with ease. "Are you free today?" With annoyance, Zelda shoved her nearly untouched plate in front of her and stood up. "No," she said. Marth raised his eyebrows. "Where are you going?!" Link stood up as well. "I'm going somewhere with Link." And so, Zelda and Hyrule's hero made their way out of the dining area. "Fine!" Marth shouted after them. "Go OUT with the invalid!!" "Heeeyyyy," said Captain Falcon from the end of the table. "I thought that I was the invalid. That's what Samus called me!! Why is HE the invalid!?" "YOU IDIOT!" Samus yelled. "WHEN YOU'RE AN INVALID YOU ARE INJURED!!"  
  
Zelda was slowly walking to the gym, trying not to walk too fast for Link. "Forgive me if I'm prying," she started, "But have you ever been confined to crutches before?" "No," Link answered. "They're killing me though! My arms are so tired! You should be grateful that you've never needed them, Zelda! And hopefully, you never will." "I should hope not," Zelda laughed. Inside the gymnasium, they saw Fox running around in circles. He was going so fast, he was nothing but a blur. Then suddenly, "HI-YA!" Fox flew up, with a large fire burning behind him. He landed, and smiled. "That was impressive," Link commented. "Thanks," Fox chortled (don't you hate that word?). "I've been working on it. It's the only move I have to get myself back onto the field."  
  
At that, Zelda crouched, and threw herself into the air. She very suddenly disappeared, then landed several feet away from her origin (visibly).  
  
"Now why couldn't I have a move like that?" Link laughed. "Mine's worse than yours, Fox. Falco's too I guess." "Oh no!" Fox shouted. "Falco! HE'S GOING TO BEAT ME TO THE SHOWERS!!!" He ran out the door. "Thanks Link!!" Zelda transformed into Sheik. She/he walked over to a beam. Sheik leapt on top of it, and started cart wheeling across it. Then she started flipping in the air and landing, all the way down the beam. It was magnificent to watch. After changing back to Zelda, the Hylian princess started to leave the gym. "See you later, Link," she called. "I'm off to take a loooong bath." Link began hopping on his crutches outside to the courtyard. Out there, he met Mario. The plumber walked up to him. "Mario, guess what happened to me yesterday?" he asked with excitement. "What, I-a beat-a you in battle-a?" "No, better! Zelda KISSED ME!!!" "Wow! On-a your first-a day too, right?" "Yes!" "Well, tonight's-a your chance to-a have it done-a again!" Mario shouted. "Why, did you know that I was meeting her?" "No-a, you fool! Didn't you-a see it on-a your schedule?" Mario pulled out his own. "The-a opening-a party is-a tonight!" "It is?!" Link yelled. "I completely forgot about it!" He looked down at his leg, which was in a cast. "But how on earth am I supposed to dance like this?!" "Well," said Mario, rubbing his chin. "The-a doctor version of-a me is-a working over-a time today. He is-a combining magic with-a medicine to-a heal you and-a those who are in-a worse condition." "SWWEEEET!" Link shouted. "Who could have guessed that I would be out of this cast and done with these crutches in one day?!" "You had-a better go on-a down to the-a medical wing," Mario advised. "That- a way, you will-a get treated-a sooner." "Thanks," Link replied, starting to leave. "Could you tell Zel for me?" "In-a case she doesn't-a all ready know, I will-a have someone-a tell her." 


	17. Lending Samus a hand

After she had taken her bath and was drying her hair, there was knock on Zelda's door. She quickly slipped into her Pooh pajamas, and answered it. Marth stood there, gaping. "Uh, um, hello princess," he stammered. "I-I was asked by Mario to inform you about the party tonight." "What par-oh yeah, the party," Zelda mumbled, picking up her schedule. "Uh, thanks Marth." She tried to close the door, but he put his hand on it. "And I was wondering if you'd consider going with me." "Nope, sorry. I think I'm going with Link. Bye!" She said this all in a very sweet tone and with a sweet smile, then slammed the door in Marth's face. He stood there, staring at the door. Roy came up, laughing. "How'd it go?" he asked. Marth didn't reply. "Awww, did she turn you down? Too bad! Guess it's my turn to try." "Don't," said Marth, grabbing Roy's sleeve. "She's all ready going with that stupid elf boy, Link." "What?! Link?!" yelled Roy. "I thought we'd established that she hated him, due to that battle yesterday! How long has this secret affair been going on?!" "Um, hello?" came Zelda's voice from inside the door. "I'm right here and can hear every word you're saying. There is no 'affair,' Roy. I just think I ought to show Link my gratitude. So AUDIOS, AMIGOS!" Grumbling, the two Alteans stalked off to their room. Then slowly, their anger ebbed away. Zel was just making up for the horrific battle she'd made him endure yesterday. No relationship would ensue.  
  
Later, Zelda was doing yoga in the courtyard on top of a fountain.She and Link had all ready decided to go to the opening party together. It was to be held officially the second day of each tournament. While she was busy walking on her hands, Zelda failed to notice that Samus was jogging up to her. "Hi Zel," said the bounty hunter. "Oh, hey," said Zelda, standing up (on her feet). "What's up?" "Come on up to my room, I wanted to talk to you." Samus and Zelda began walking to the north tower. Samus took out a key, and opened her door. She collapsed onto the couch. "Well, what's the problem?" Zelda asked. "The PROBLEM is Captain Falcon!" Samus shouted. "He's been trying to get me to go with him to the party all day! I keep refusing; he keeps asking. It is getting so annoying!" "Then tell him you're going with someone else," Zelda instructed. "That's what I did with Marth. He was bugging me about it too, and so I told him that I was going with Link. He stopped, then I checked with Link to see if it was okay. He said it was, and so my problem was solved." "But who could I possibly go with?!" Samus asked, trying not to shout. "Well," said Zelda, sitting next to her on the bed. "Let's see who you can eliminate. You can't go with Link, and Young Link is going with Summer, hm. how about Gannondorf?" "GANNONDORK?!" Samus repeated. "Please tell me you're joking!" "Well actually, I'm not. He's gotten to be a lot nicer over the year. And he's an excellent poker player!" Samus was not impressed. Zelda sighed. "Okay, you couldn't go with the pokemon (they're all paired up, you know), Ness is too young, Kirby is going with Jigglypuff, Bowser's freaky.why don't you go with Roy or Marth? As far as I know, neither of them are taken." Samus thought for a while. "Which is the one with blue hair?" she asked. "What, you can't even tell them apart?!" Zelda asked in disbelief. "Well I know one is one and the other is another, I just don't know which is which!" Samus retorted. "But you've known them for almost over a year!" "Irreellleeevvvannnttt, Zelda," Samus drawled.  
  
"Marth is the one with blue hair," Zelda answered. "Roy is the redhead." "Okay, I'll see if Marth is free," Samus decided. "I'll have to pretend like I've known which one he is though.Thanks Zel." "No problem."  
  
Meanwhile, Link was busy punching a punching bag in the gym with Fox. "So are you going with anyone to the party?" Link asked. "I don't know yet," Fox answered, giving the bag a kick. "I mean I feel so weird going to dances and stuff with people, because I'm an animal. Most likely I'll end up going and just hanging around. Maybe steal a couple dances or two. I hear that you're going with Zelda." "True. Who told you?" "Mario did. He's going with Peach. I was with him when he asked, and yet it seems like she was almost reluctant. Kind of like there was someone else she wanted to go with, you know?" "I don't mean to be self-centered or anything Fox, but something tells me she wanted to go with me." Fox started rolling on the floor with laughter. "What makes you say that?" "Well firstly, I noticed that this morning she was a little cold to Zelda. You know, once she found out that we were supposed to be having a 'date' later. And then there's the fact that she used to kiss me every day last year (which got really annoying). And she also asked me to go with her to the party right after Zel did." "Wow, what a nasty web you're caught in," Fox commented. "Not really. Peach will get over me. I hope." 


	18. Be Prepared, Link

King Harkinian was busy helping Peach's father set up for the beginning-of -the-tournament party.  
  
"You know, I think that I want Hyrule to host the tournament some time," Zelda's father stated. "But I bet it's a lot of work, isn't it?" "Yes," answered the king of Mushroom Kingdom. "So much organizing to do and stuff. And yet, it's been a lot of fun, and I was really looking forward to it. I mean I know we've only just started, but I'm going to be quite sad when it's all over." He placed a white table cloth over one of the tables. "I don't think there are going to be many of the guys attending this thing with dates though," said King Harkinian, putting a bouqet of flowers onto a table. "There are so many more of them than the girls. Falco, thank goodness, willingly volunteered to be a DJ." He hesitated. "Do you know if Peach is going with anyone yet?" "Oh, she is," answered King Toadstool. "Mario. Her gallant plumber." King Harkinian laughed. "I wonder who my Zellie will be with?" Peach's dad shrugged. "Probably Marth. She went with him to Misty's party last year." "But didn't she go to Brock's beginning-of-the-tournament part last year with Link?" King Toadstool asked. "Well yes, but that's because she didn't really know anyone else. I mean there was Gannondorf, but who knew if he was trustworthy or not then?" "I suppose you're right."  
  
In the kitchen, Zelda and Peach were putting an apron and a chef hat the sulking Mewtwo. "Why on earth are you forcing me to put on these stupid clothes?!" he demanded. "I'm only here to translate for Jigglypuff!" "Jiggly, jig-puffy puff!" his fellow pokemon said with glee. Mewtwo glared at her. "I do not look cute!" Zelda laughed, as she filled a bowl with steaming water. "I think she's right, Mewtwo. You always have such an annoyed and serious mood, it's cute to see you dressed up like this." "Don't I have a right to be annoyed all the time?" Mewtwo asked, getting a bottle of rosemary for Jigglypuff. "I'm forced to translate for five smashers all the time! Jigglypuff, Marth, Roy, Pikachu and Pichu! Geez!" He started to help Peach mix up a batter. "That reminds me," said Zelda, turning to Samus. "What did Marth say to you about tonight?" "What? Oh yeah, he said that he'd be perfectly willing to go with me. So I guess I've escaped another social event with Falcon. Actually, to be truthful, I'm kind of excited." "So am I. Hand me those eggs, will you?" Samus gave them to Zelda. Being a major feminist, she refused to cook along with the other girls. Zel was something of a tomboy herself, but still loved baking things. "You know, I feel bad for Popo," Nana declared. "If I wasn't his sister, I'd go with him. But I am, so I'm going with Ness instead." "Poor Popo," said Summer. Samus rolled her eyes underneath her helmet. " Say Zel, didn't you go to Misty's party with Marth last year?" "Yes," said the Hylian princess, throwing away her eggshells. "Why?" "Because you went with Link to Brock's." "Well I went with Link to that party, because he was the only one I knew, and the only one I'd feel comfortable going with," Zelda explained. "But this year, I'm going with him because-" She spun across the room to the cabinet."I want to." "How romantic," Samus said sarcastically, rolling her eyes again. Then, they widened. "Holy hunter's heads!! What in Brinstar is that?!" "What, this?" Nana asked, looking at the contents of her bowl. "It's shrimp head salad." "Ugh," said Zelda. "Sea food and I don't get along. And who ever heard of eating shrimp heads? In salad, of all things?!" "A lot of people like shrimp heads," Nana defended in a haughty manner. "And some like it in salad. Is that my fault? No one's making you eat it." She stuck out her tongue. "Besides, what are you making?" "Linguini. By request." Zelda turned around, and saw to her surprise, that her father and King Toadstool were right behind her. "Oh! Hi dad, hello King Toadstool. What're you guys doing here? I thought you were setting up." "We're done," Zel's father answered. "The party is due to start in a couple hours. We figured that we ought to let you girls get ready. We'll finish cooking." "You know how to cook?" Peach and Zelda asked simultaneously. "Of course," King Toadstool answered, offended. "IRON CHEF!!" the two Kings shouted, raising their arms, and kicking at the air. "Um.okaayyyyy then.." "Well, see ya soon, dad!" said Zelda, skipping out of the room. "Bye, Uncle Harkinian!" shouted Summer, following her cousin.  
  
Link, in the mean time, had been showering. He was staring at his mirror, wondering what to do with his hair. Should it be slicked back, or should some of it be hanging in his eyes?  
"Urgh!" He threw his comb against the door, which someone knocked at. "Uh, who is it?" he asked, quickly putting on a shirt.  
"It's-a me, Luigi!"  
Link opened the door, and his friend sauntered in. "Hi-a, Link. I was- a wondering if I could-a borrow your bar of-a soap? Mario has-a used up all- a of ours, and I haven't-a had the chance to-a shower yet."  
"Sure, Luigi." Link walked into his bathroom, and returned with the soap. "You can keep it. I'll get another one later."  
"Thanks-a, Link. Good-a bye."  
"Wait a second!" Link shouted. Luigi turned. "What do you think I should do with my hair?" Luigi stared at him, and he sighed. "I don't know how I should have it!"  
"Why-a do you care-a so much?" Luigi asked him. "You never-a worry about-a your hair!"  
"I know, but I'm trying to look good!"  
"Listen, if-a I know-a Zelda like I think-a I do, she won't-a care at all." Luigi started to walk out the door.  
"But that still doesn't answer my question!"  
"Flip a coin-a."  
Link ended up parting his hair, and having some of it hang in his eyes (we thank you, Abraham Lincoln). 


	19. New Beginnings for Samus

Zelda, however, was having no problem at all with her hair. She, being a princess, had attended hundreds of parties, and always did her hair the same way for them. It was what to wear that was getting to her.  
Pink disgusted her, and she only wore it when she had to. She thought that red resemble blood, so she didn't want to wear that. Zelda often thought that she looked bad in green, and that it wasn't her color.  
It was between the blue or purple. Both were tinted with gold, and were lovely (I mean she's a princess, she's going to have nice stuff). Blue was what she had worn when she beat Link in battle, and made her feel guilty. Of course, the blue gloves were also the ones that held his first valentine.  
"Summer," Zelda called. There was no response. She walked out of her bedroom, and into Summer's, which had the television in it. Zel's younger cousin was watching Oklahoma! on tv. Summer was already dressed, wearing a simple yellow gown with laces.  
"Oh Curly, I'll marry ya-if ya want me to!" said Shirley Jones on  
screen.  
  
Zelda sighed. "Oh, if only life were like the movies."  
"What?" Then Zelda remembered what she had wanted to ask her cousin. "Summer, do you think I should wear purple or blue? I can't decide." "Blue," Summer answered, with out a second's thought. Zelda frowned. "That was a rather rapid decision." Summer turned around. "I like you in that blue dress. The gold and dark blue together bring out the color in your hair." She smiled. "Link likes it, too." "Okay, you've convinced me," said Zelda, grinning. She skipped back to her bedroom, humming. Putting on her gloves, Zelda made sure to slip the valentine into it. She was curious to see what Link would think of it now (as opposed to when he wrote it). Then the princess opened her drawer and frowned. Normally, the only makeup Zelda wore was lipstick. She wondered if she should make an exception tonight. She decided to at least give herself a manicure. While her nails were drying, Zelda called Samus. The bounty hunter had it on speaker, and there were loud crashes coming from it. "Sam, are you all right?" Zelda asked. Samus put the speaker off, and picked up the phone. "Yeah Zel, I'm fine. It's these stupid heels! They are so hard to walk around in! How on earth do you manage it every day?!" Zelda had to laugh. "You're wearing heels?!" "Yes! Is that a problem?! I've decided to put on a gown, too. I suppose that everyone else'll be dressed up, so I'm going to as well." "Dressed to impress, huh?" Zelda asked, slipping on her own snowy white heeled shoes. "You said it Zel. All I can say is that I'll shoot anyone who comes within in ten feet of me with a camera." Zelda laughed again. "That's going to be hard to manage. You know that they're televising the party this year." "WHAT?!?! WHY?!" "Well, I guess that-" "WHAT IS THE SIGNIFIGANCE OF IT?!?" "Geez Samus, calm down. I think that people in this world are anxious to see what smashers are like off the battlefield. Like who do we really hate, and who do we like? Who do we get along with? You know, stuff like that. You're going to have to get over it and try to ignore the camera man." There was a long silence, and Zelda thought that Samus had hung up on her. "Hello?" "I guess you're right," Samus said slowly. "Just the world better not get used to seeing me in this dress, because I'm never going to wear it again!!" "Well then why are you wearing one now?" "Sorry, gotta get ready. Bye!" Zelda was stunned, as Samus hung up. "That was an odd way to end a conversation," she said, putting the phone back onto its receiver. She simply shrugged it off as nothing. Then Zelda decided that if Samus was going as far as putting on heels and a dress, she'd go as far as putting on makeup.  
  
While all this was going on, Peach was slumped in her chair. The party was set to begin in a half an hour. The princess was a mess. Her hair was uncombed, her dress had dirt down the front, and she was sulking. Tilting her head so she could see the clock, Peach decided that it was time to start getting ready. She dragged herself to the bathroom, and slowly began to brush her hair. Makeup was applied, and she put on some lotion. Peach practiced smiling at herself in the mirror, trying to look happy. But she wasn't. For an entire year, Peach had been trying to hook up Marth and Zelda. That would leave Link open for herself. Instead, her whole plan backfired. Link was beginning to fall for Zelda, and her for him. Peach had pretended to understand her fellow princess' feeling about Marth, but was really quite enraged at them. Zel had beaten her to Link. "IT'S NOT FAIR!!!" she shouted at her reflection. Slowly, Peach began to calm down. Once more, she smiled at herself in the mirror. It was a smile that could convince anyone that she was enjoying herself. 


	20. Partaaaay! part 1

Nervously, Link walked up to Zelda's door. He quickly looked himself over. His shoes black and shiny, he was wearing cacky pants, and a white shirt with a black sweater. He knew that Zelda hated ties. Link raised his hand, and knocked on the door. It slowly opened. "HI LINK!!!" The hero of time stood there stunned, as Summer stepped outside. "Where is your younger self? He was supposed to-" "Here I am," said Young Link, who had been standing behind his older self. "Well, let's go." The two of them skipped down the hallway. "Zellie will be out in a minute," Summer called out. "She says you can go in if you want." Cautiously, Link stepped inside the room. "Z-Zelda?" "I'll be right there, Link. I just have to-OW!! PAIN!! " "Zel, you okay?" he asked. "Yeah, I'm fine," she answered. Then, under her breath, she added,"Stupid pencil. I'm using pens from now on." Then, Zelda walked out of her bedroom and behind Link. "Hello." He swiveled around. In spite of his wishes, Link felt his jaw drop. "Uh, uh, ummm." To put it bluntly, she looked even better than when she had been wearing the jeans and hello kitty tee. What was most miraculous, however, was her face. He had never seen her so made up before, and made him feel like he was dressed much too casually. Eye shadow, eyeliner, and even a touch of glitter on her cheeks. Her dress was silver-white, with light blue swirls. To top it all off, Zelda had placed her silver tiara on her golden hair. She had to smile at Link's stunned expression, showing off her brilliant white teeth. She began fiddling with her pearl necklace, then extended her arm. "Care to escort a lady to a party?" she asked. "That's what I'm here for." The two of them headed off to the ball room, arm in arm. On their way, they met up with Samus and Marth. Almost automatically, as if she were at one of her father's balls, Zelda curtsied elegantly. "Good evening Samus, Marth," she said gracefully. "Hi Zel," Samus said back, smiling from ear to ear. "Hi Link." "'Evening, Zelda," Marth said coldly, throwing Link an icy glare. The pair walked off, Marth slouching somewhat. "I am so glad that you got the nerve to take me to this thing," Zelda said in a whisper to Link. "Marth tried to ask me, but I turned him down. I was afraid he'd keep on proposing the idea, like Captain Falcon did to Samus." "Well don't worry," said Link, striking a heroic pose. "I have come to save you from the evils of the earth again, Princess!" Zelda laughed, and they entered the ball room. Immediately, a film camera was shoved in their faces. They forced smiles. "Uh, hello," said Zelda. "AND HELLO TO YOU!" the reporter shouted. "Simply lovely to see you this evening, Princess. Ah, and I see your date tonight is none other than Link! The man who has saved your life, and yet you defeated him mercilessly yesterday!!" "Well, we came here to have a good time and not think about yesterday's battle," Zelda explained. "So thank you, but we'd like to socialize if you don't mind," Link cut in, steering Zelda away. "Very smooth," Zelda laughed. "I never have the heart to push people away like that. I wish I did. Sometimes I envy you." Fox and Falco were wearing black leather, and were supposedly the two DJ's. They waved at the two elves, who waved back. A sulking Roy had ended up coming alone. He stood in a corner, glaring at everyone else, and cursing a reporter in Japanese. "I'm sorry," Mewtwo kept saying to the reporter. "I hate to translate such bad language! Trust me, you should be grateful I'm not telling you what he is calling you!" Zelda and Link found a small table (for two) on their right. Sitting down, Zelda sighed happily. Then she remembered the note in her glove. "Here Link," she said, handing his valentine to him. "Read this." Confused, he took it. Once he read it, Link blushed a deep red. "I remember that. Ha! I don't know about you, but that guy with the pocket protector still gives me nightmares." "Oh, he gives them to me, too," Zelda said, chuckling. "You know, it'd be really scary if he was a smasher." "Yeah. He'd just have to start rambling algebra problems, and his opponent would commit suicide and jump off the edge." Zelda laughed. "Oh look, there's Peach and Mario." The two of them were being harassed by news reporters. "I think you should go rescue them." As soon as Link got up to save his friends, Fox and Falco started playing sk8r boi. Nearly everyone started getting up and singing. Zelda laughed as Ganon and Bowser stepped onto the dance floor, lipsinking the words. She tapped her toe in rhythm. The words started sinking into her head.  
  
"He wanted her, she'd never tell secretly she wanted him as well-"  
  
Zelda started taking a trip down memory lane. When she and Link had first met, she had truthfully despised him. She thought his earrings were despicable, and that he thought too much of himself. Actually, as she she came to discover, he thought of her too much. Link had been desperately trying to court her, almost like Marth. Except with Link, she had begun to like him back after a bit of time. Of course, she couldn't stand to let him know that he'd won her over after all those years. Until now, obviously. As she glanced over at the entrance to the room, she noticed that Peach, Mario and Link had left. Then, she realized that she was the only one who wasn't bouncing along with Avril Lavigne. Before she could get up though, the song ended. Zelda walked up to Falco and Fox. "What kind of music do you have there, guys?" she asked. "Everything!" Fox answered, grinning. "Pop, rock, swing, even classical, and-hey, who put DISNEY music in here?!" And suddenly Bowser became very interested in his napkin. Laughing, Zelda walked back to her table, were Link was sitting, red-faced.  
  
"Zelda!" he said. "You missed out on the first dance!" "If you can call that non-stop bouncing dancing!" Zelda retorted, snickering Link shrugged it off, as two Toads appeared, holding two platters. They darted off, and Link took the tops off of them. Steam billowed into his face. "Wow!" he coughed. "Steamy!" The two elves wafted all the steam away with their hands. "Ooh! Linguini!" He immediately picked up his fork. "Glad you like it," Zelda commented, as he started wolfing down the pasta. "You don't know how much work I put into it." "You mean you made this?!" "Yes. Don't you think I can cook?" Zelda laughed. "Personally, I am insulted Link!" "Aren't you going to eat it?" he asked. "No. I'm allergic to pasta." "Well then why'd you make it?" "Because a lot of people wanted it." "Whuuutever." Then Zelda noticed the samba tune going in the back ground. "WOW! I LOVE SAMBA!" she shouted. Gannondorf walked up to them, bowing. "Pardon me Princess," he said in a gracious tone. "But I was wondering if you would permit me this dance?" He held out his hand, and to Link's shock, she accepted it. "Is it all right with you, Link?" she asked. "Sure," he answered. "I'm not done with this linguini anway." Ganon and Zelda were the only two on the dance floor. Gannondorf grabbed a rose from a bouquet and clamped it between his teeth. He next grabbed Zelda, and the two of them tangoed across the floor. The music got louder, and they started dancing faster. King Harkinian and Impa's jaws slowly dropped, and they slowly turned towards each other, staring. But the two dancers seemed ignorant of the fact that all the smashers and reporters were staring at them. "Is this great or what?" a reporter asked his viewers. "The Princess Zelda and her arch-nemisis Gannondorf-dancing!" Not to be out done, Peach grasped Bowser and heaved him to the dance floor. There were now two pairs of dancing enemies doing the tango. The music ended, and Ganon dipped the Hylian princess. "Wow!" said Zelda, who was flushed from excitement. "A poker player and a dancer! The tango, of all things! I'd never have guessed!" Link of course, had become very jealous. "Too bad I never learned the tango," he mumbled to himself. The princess had to grin at her 'hero,' but said nothing. 


	21. Partaaaay! part 2

A loud rock song had started playing. Zelda fell out of her chair from the noise. Her ears were extremely sensitive, and the blast of sound almost knocked her out. Link helped her up. "THIS IS A GREAT PARTY, HUH SUMMER?!" Young Link shouted over the music. "WHAT?!" "NEVER MIND!"  
Link and Zelda stared, astonished, at Marth and Samus. The two of them were doing the twist, and were soon joined by Kirby and Jigglypuff.  
"Jiggly jigg!" Jigglypuff jigged.  
"WHAT DID SHE SAY?" Kirby asked over the noise.  
"THAT THIS IS THE BEST NIGHT OF HER LIFE!" Mewtwo answered, who had begun to twist as well.  
Zelda stood up and grabbed her moping date. "C'mon Link," she said. "We need to make this our first dance!"  
Link's jealous feelings immediately vanished, as the two of them rushed onto the dance floor and began twisting.  
"I never would have guessed," King Harkinian chuckled, from inside the kitchen. "I expected Zelda to come with Marth."  
"Nope," said Impa, smiling. "I think she's like Link for a long time, and just not want to admit it. Trust me, I know these things. I used to be twenty-one you know, at one point."  
"Yeah, a looooonng time ago," King Harkinain joked. Impa hit him on the head with a frying pan.  
"Oops. Was that a crime?"  
  
Meanwhile, Mario and Peach were discussing the tournament. "You know, Link-a is a very-a good fighter," Mario stated, taking a bite of his shrimp head salad. "He is-a very impressive. Zelda is-a too."  
"Come on Mario," said Peach, seizing his arm. She had watched Link and Zelda doing the twist, and thought they'd been twisting a little too close. The pair had stolen the camera's attention, and Peach wanted to steal it herself. The song playing now was quite slow. "Dance with me."  
"What? But-a I don't-a dance!"  
"You do now!"  
"But what-a if I-a refuse?"  
"I'll hit you on the head with a tennis racket."  
"Okay."  
Zelda, in the meantime, was eating green (shrimp-less) salad. She had to giggle when Link called it "rabbit food," and yet was now eating Nana's popular shrimp head salad.  
Young Link and Summer were attempting to copy Marth and Samus, who were gracefully dancing to the dragging song. Summer was having a bit of trouble, but Young Link (who was leading) was actually doing quite well.  
Zel put down her fork. "Are you as good at dancing as your younger self?" she asked curiously in an innocent tone.  
Link nonchalantly glanced at the dance floor, then spat out a shrimp head. "Augh! My younger self is slow dancing!"  
"Oh really? I didn't notice," Zelda said sarcastically, taking Link's shrimp head out of her hair.  
Link turned back to his salad. "Well, I'm glad you don't want to." Then he glanced up. Zelda was looking at him pleadingly. "Oh no. No! I do NOT slow dance! There is no way I'm going up there!"  
"Oh, please Link?" Zelda pleaded. "Pleeeaaasseeee? We need something to remember tonight by-you know, something stupidly romantic."  
"Well.why don't you just kiss me and save us the humiliation?"  
"Oh, like that wouldn't be humiliating? Link, you're not supposed to rush these kind of things! They need to taaaaakkkkeee tiiimmmee.You don't just go 'oh *kiss* I love you!'" Zelda smiled. "I'll get there. Eventually."  
Link shoved his hair behind his ear. He cleared his throat, stood up, and extended his hand. "Pardon me madam," he said in his most gentlemanly voice possible. "But may I have this dance?"  
Beaming, Zelda took his hand and stood as well. On their way to the dance floor, Zelda whispered to Samus, "Be sure to blow up any reporter who mentions yesterday's battle."  
"Got it," said Samus, strolling causally towards the news men to hear what they were saying.  
"You know, I've never really slow danced before," Link admitted, giving Zelda a twirl. "And as far as I know, neither has my younger self."  
"Are you kidding?" Young Link asked, who was waltzing with Summer near by. "I've been taking dance lessons for two years now!"  
"Well, I think you FORGOT to tell me that."  
"Oh Link," Zelda laughed. "Stop being to rude to your pesky younger self. Oh, that reminds me-" she was interrupted by another twirl. "If you were to battle against Young Link, wouldn't it be hurting you because you're him in the future?"  
"We thought about that," Link explained. "And that's why we teamed up last year. I guess that I'll just have to hope that they never make us fight each other this time."  
"They better not!" Young Link added. "For your sake."  
"You know," said Peach, who was 'dancing' with Mario on the other side of the room, "This would be better if you were taller."  
"Hey, is it-a my fault-a that shortness is-a in my-a family?" Mario asked. "Or would-a you prefer-a Luigi?"  
Peach sighed. "Well no, but this just feels a little awkward, and people are beginning to stare."  
Mario was so much shorter than the princess, that she was practically holding him up. His feet were not touching the floor.  
"Jiggly-jig!" the pink pokemon piped up.  
Peach glanced at Mewtwo. "She said that she thinks its cute."  
"Hey Mario," said Kirby. "I like that hat."  
"Thank-a you, very-augh!"  
It seemed that the wad of bubblegum like Mario's hat SO much, that he swallowed the plumber whole. Of course, this really didn't go with the whole slow dance thing, and looked quite weird. Mario was spat out, and Kirby grinned, wearing a similar hat.  
"Hey! You can't do that to my date!" Peach whispered loudly, hitting Kirby on the head with her golf club.  
  
Fox and Falco were staring dreamily at the all of the dancers.  
"It makes me wish that I wasn't the only fox around here," said Fox.  
"I hear you," Falco sighed. "Sheesh, how LONG is this stupid song?!"  
"I don't know," said Fox, checking the case. "But keep it playing."  
"Why?!"  
"Because I said so. Besides, this song is nice." Falco rolled his eyes.  
  
"Thank you, Link," Zelda whispered.  
"For.what? The dance is over yet."  
"I know. I mean for saving my life all those times. Of course, all I ever did then was say 'thanks' or 'thank you' and 'do come again.'" She sighed. "I just wish that there was something MORE that I could do.to really show my appreciation, but I don't know how to word it."  
"Well, I guess I'll just have to imagine what you're trying to get through," said Link with mock sorrow, and a false sigh.  
"Ha ha. I'm sorry, but I just feel like I'm being so ungrateful. I know I've said this to you repeatedly, but I really mean it! I am completely in your debt."  
"Why are you bringing this up now?" Link inquired. "Like, instead of all those years ago?"  
Zelda was hit by a sudden realization, but shrugged it off. "I don't know," she finally muttered. NOTE: DO NOT READ IN A 'SEXUAL' FASHION!!! (like my brother..!)  
  
"Wow," Gannondorf said approvingly.  
"What?" asked Bowser, walking up to his table.  
"I just never thought that ol' fairy boy over there would ever get the guts to do a slow dance. I mean, especially with Zelda."  
"Why shouldn't he?" Boswer asked. "I mean, he's braved the dangers of fighting with you before, hasn't he?"  
"Hey, that is nothing compared to dancing, brother," said Ness, who was accompanied by Nana.  
"Tell me about it," Nana giggled. "You spent almost two hours beating around the bush to ask me, and then dashed off after hearing me say yes."  
"You know, Zelda tangoes pretty well," Ganon chuckled. "I wonder if she's as good at slow dancing as she is at doing that. Too bad, I'll probably never know.  
"Nor I," said Marth darkly, sitting down next to Ganon. "I mean, I've spent over a year trying to get Zelda to like me, and all I've done in the process is-"  
"Annoy her," Nana finished for him. He glowered at her. "Well, it's the truth! Zel can sense it when people push it too far. You should try being more like Link. Be considerate, and shut up when you feel it necessary."  
"Are you telling me, PRINCE of Altea, to shut up?!" Marth, Prince of Altea roared, almost shouting.  
"Well, not directly," Nana explained. "You should just learn to become aware of when she's irritated."  
Marth flicked one of her shrimp heads in her face.  
  
The song was slowly coming to a close, which traditionally ended with a dip. Peach decided to give her plumber a hand, and ended up dipping him.  
"Wow," said Link, still bending over the Princess. "I've never dipped someone before."  
"I knew you had it in you," Zelda breathed, beginning to lean forward. And then, to Link's enchantment, she kissed him. Once again it was lasted longer than she had anticipated, but she didn't care. Link pulled her up, and she threw her arms around his neck (still kissing him). King Harkinian stared. Peach, Roy and Marth glared. And Impa danced around in circles. (THERE!!! ARE YOU SATISIFED GRAHAM???!!!!????!!!??)  
In fact, the only reason Zel stopped was because a tremendous earsplitting sound came blasting from the doorway.  
A man was lying on his back, looking like he was burned. Samus lowered her arm. Zelda noticed that the arm of the bounty hunter's normal suit was under her gown's sleeve.  
The princess hurried over. "Sam, what happened?"  
Samus laughed. "Nothing really. This guy over here just thought it was so ironic how one minute you were throwing Link off the edge of a building, and the next you're kissing him! Actually, it IS kinda funny. But I still did as you said and blasted him."  
"Uh, thanks Samus," Zelda said. She turned to the other reporters, who were focusing the camera on her. "Don't just stand there, you freaks! Get this guy to a hospital! NOW!"  
The news crew quickly took action.  
The song playing now was a quick swing beat.  
"Care to dance, Zel?" asked Roy, extending his arm.  
"No thank you," Zelda answered sweetly. "I want to go talk with Link, if you don't mind."  
Sulking, Roy stormed over to the wall by the kitchen door.  
"Well?" Marth asked, who had been waiting there.  
"She said no."  
Marth grunted with annoyance. "At this rate, she'll never pay attention to us again."  
"And it's all Link's fault," observed Roy coldly. 


	22. Partaaaay! part 3, the final one

Smiling, Zelda took Link's arm and pulled him back over to their table. "Link, you have no idea how long I've been wanting to do that to you. But for so long, you just kept on trying to get me to like you, and I- "  
"And you couldn't stand letting me have the satisfaction of knowing that I'd won you over after all those years," Link finished for her, grinning.  
Zelda laughed. "How'd you know?"  
"Kokiri intuition."  
Smiling again, Zelda took Link's face in her hands and kissed him intensley. "Now you know how I feel," she whispered, once they had broken apart.  
"Not exactly how you feel," Link said, grinning.  
The princess kissed him again. "Link...I love you."  
At that moment, Impa and King Harkinian came moseying out of the kitchen, and the doors were slammed upon Marth and Roy's faces.  
Their groans of pain were unnonticed, as the two Hylians approached Captain Falcon.  
"Hello, Captain Falcon," said Impa, sitting down next to him. "I notice that you're all alone over here."  
"Yeah," the captain mumbled.  
"Why is that, son?" King Harkinian asked, sitting on his other side.  
"Because no one likes me!" He began to wail and sob.  
The king of hyrule looked at Impa. "There there boy," the elderly woman said. "It's all right. Why, we can stay and socialize with you, if you want."  
"No, no," Falcon choked, waving his arm. "You don't want to mingle with me. You just want to make me feel better! Leave me alone in my misery!"  
Impa and King Harkinian exchanged glances, got up, and left to dance to the fox trot that was playing. It was at this time, however, that Peach and Kirby came up to him.  
"Hi," said Peach.  
"'Lo," Falcon muttered glumly.  
"We noticed that you were sitting here by yourself. Couldn't you find some one to come with you?"  
"No," Falcon sniffed. "Besides, I only wanted to come with Samus. But no, she had to refuse me and go with pretty boy Marth over there. And she's not even with him!"  
Peach looked at Kirby, and jerked her head in Samus' direction. He nodded, and walked over to her.  
"Yeah?" she asked, after being brought to Peach and Falcon.  
"Captain Falcon here has been feeling a bit lonely," Peach said, frowning.  
Samus got the look, and slowly shook her head. "No!" she whispered, quite louder than she'd planned, at the princess. "We've already gone over this!!"  
Peach stuck out her lower lip, and patted Captain Falcon's helmet. "Do it for me?" she mouthed.  
"He looks so miserable," Kirby commented in a soft voice.  
Squinting her eyes, Samus faced Captain Falcon. "Hey, Falcon," she said in an extremely dull and unenthusiastic voice. "How about dancing this one with me?  
Captain Falcon shot up. "SURE!!!" he yelled. The racer grabbed Samus' arm and dragged her to the dance floor, which was now crowded with smashers.  
"Aww, look how happy he is," Zelda sighed, watching Cpt. Falcon dance around wildly. Samus was barely moving.  
"Yeah. Almost as happy as I was before," Link said, grinning. Zelda smiled beautifully, then stood up.  
"I'm sorry Link, I'm really tired. I think I ought to go to bed," she stated. "Thank you for a lovely evening."  
Copying (or perhaps mocking) Roy and Marth's manner, Link gave Zelda's hand a small kiss before watching her depart. She found Summer, and the two of them left the room.  
  
While Summer was in the bathroom getting ready for bed, Zel turned on the television in her cousin's room. The epic Titanic was playing, and it was one of her favorite parts.  
"Look Jack, I'm flying! I'm flying!" Kate Winslet breathed. Zelda sighed, and smiled, as Rose (Dewitt Bukater!) kissed Jack for the first time.  
"So.how was the lip-lock?"  
Summer had come out of the bathroom unnoticed. Zelda jumped, then turned off the tv.  
"Sorry sweetie," she said, ruffling Summer's hair. "I don't kiss and tell."  
  
Peach of course, was furious that Zelda had actually had the nerve to kiss Link in public. It was very inconsiderate of her, stealing her boyfriend like that. Sighing, Peach knew that everyone would be on Zelda's side of this, if she started to complain. Zel had the right to be Link's 'girlfriend,' seeing as how he was the one who saved her sometimes.  
And yet, Peach was not about to let her anger go unnoticed. 


	23. The Blustery Day

A massive storm had blown up in the early morning. So, needless to say, all battles for that day had been canceled.  
"It's-a really-a too bad," said Mario, moving his bishop two squares in his chess game with Zelda. "I was-a really looking-a forward to our-a battle today."  
"So was I," said Zel, capturing her opponent's knight with her castle. "And no offense, but I don't really aim to spend all day playing chess."  
"Neither do-a I," said Mario. "Check."  
"So what else can we do?" Zelda asked, moving her king to safety. "Play Plumber poker?" Peach stepped into the room. "I'll tell you one thing we can do-play  
game for more than two players."  
Mario got the hint, and started sweeping the pieces off the board. "Okay. You-a win, Zelda."  
Peach and Mario walked out of the room, and Zelda stepped to one of the large windows. Rain was splattering against it, and she sighed. To her, rain was a depressant. It always seemed to come when it was unwanted.  
"Whatcha doin', Zel?"  
Unseen by her cousin, Summer had entered the den where Zelda was. "Oh, hi Summer. I was just looking outside and wondering how I could possibly get my revenge on the rain."  
Summer giggled. "I like rain. It's fun. Young Link and I were about to go out there and play in it. Do you want to come?"  
Zelda hesitated. "Well, if it's going to rain, I might as well enjoy it." She slowly turned around. "Race you outdoors!"  
The two elves ran outside, grabbing their coats as they went. Young Link soon followed (to Zelda's slight disappointment, his older self wasn't with him). But the three of them had a great time all the same.  
Laughing, Zelda forgot what kind of grudge she had held against the rain in the first place.  
"I haven't done this in years!" she shouted to Summer.  
Peach came floating out of the gym doors with her umbrella. She waved down at her friends, who waved back.  
"Hey, Peach!" Young Link shouted. "Come on down here and play with us!  
"Sorry, no!" she yelled back. "My gloves aren't water-proof!! Besides, I'm afraid it would ruin my dignity!"  
"Come on, you never had dignity in the first place!" Zel hollered back.  
Trying not to smile, Peach gently lowered herself onto the muddy ground. "EEW!" she shouted. "I landed in a puddle!"  
"Well, what'd you expect in a rainstorm?!" Young Link asked.  
And with that, Zelda and Peach's inner spirit was released. Gradually, other bored smashers started to go outside, with or without umbrellas. Gannondorf took out a purple striped jump rope. "CAN ANYONE HERE DO THIS?!" he shouted over the sound of thunder. He began to hop backwards, but so very fast that it almost blinded those who watched. The formerly evil man started crossing his hands, and it was all very impressive. "Can I try that rope, Ganon?" Peach asked, smiling. "Sure, catch!" Gannodorf answered, throwing it to Peach. She caught it and thanked him. Then, Kirby began to sneeze, and Impa insisted that they come inside before they all caught hypothermia and died. At lunch, everyone was enveloped in electric blankets (Ganon insisted upon getting the fuzzy pink one). Zelda had replaced her elegant elbow-length gloves for snow ones, and found them to be uncomfortable and yet warm at the same time "I guess I'm just used to longer thinner ones," she admitted. "They're okay," said Samus, sawing a T-bone steak in half. "I mean it took me forever to adjust to those evening gloves." "Samus, you'd never dressed up in your life before last night," said Link, resting his arm on Zelda's shoulder. "Link, get off me," she said with mock annoyance. She picked up one of her nicer gloves, and struck him across the face with it. She laughed in a strange low voice. "Ah ha ha ha!!"  
"You know if I wasn't the gentle man that I was, I'd take my glove off and slap you," said Link, trying to be serious and not laugh.  
"So you call yourself a gentleman, do you?" asked Zelda.  
"What, don't I seem elegant to you?"  
".No."  
"Hey, don't be so harsh on my older self!" Young Link scolded mockingly.  
Gannondorf faced Impa. "Impa, you really ought to teach your.princess how to behave properly!"  
"Look who's talking," said King Harkinian.  
Ganon rolled his eyes as the king and Impa laughed loudly.  
"Hey, Gannondork," said Popo, holding a meringue pie in his hand. Nana giggled softly, covering her mouth with her hand.  
The evil dude turned towards the tiny Ice Climber."WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?!?!" he exploded.  
But before he could do anything, Ganon received a pie in the kisser. The two ice climbers started laughing wildly. Gannondorf mopped off his face, also managing to laugh. But of course, he wasn't about to let Popo get away with it.  
He picked up a ketchup bottle, and started squirting at the two eskimos. Popo and Nana ducked, and the ketchup went right into Zelda's ear.  
  
"Ah!" she shouted, turning swiftly (ketchup went flying everywhere). She picked up her spoon, dipped it in Summer's applesauce, and flung it at Peach.  
"EEW!!" screamed Peach, wiping off her nose. "What was that for, Zel?!"  
"I was getting back at you for squirting that ketchup at me," Zelda replied, cleaning the condiment out of her ear.  
"I didn't do that!"  
"What? Well then who did?"  
All eyes turned to Ganon, who blinked. Then, total chaos broke out. Globs of food went flying everywhere, and there were screams of laughter. To everyone's immense surprise, Impa, King Harkinian, and King Toadstool had joined in. "I hope you're not lactose intolerant, Ness!" Impa shouted, picking up a pizza pie and throwing it at the psychic boy's face. After about a quarter of an hour of furious food fighting, everyone calmed down a bit.  
"I think I need to go shower," said Zelda, who was covered with peas, carrots and mustard.  
"Me too," laughed Peach, running her hands through her hair, trying to get rid of the mashed potatoes and scrambled eggs that were stuck in it.  
  
The two of them walked arm in arm, laughing, out the doors.  
They all decided that they wanted to shower, in order to rid themselves of the food stuck all over them. What had started as a dreadful, boring day seemed to be turning into a good one. 


	24. The garage

"Here she is," said Captain Falcon, opening a door.  
He and Peach walked into the garage. It was mostly underground, but there was a window near the ceiling that was on ground level.  
Falcon was referring to one of his old cars, whom he had affectionately dubbed "Jeanie." It must have been a pretty Mustang at one point, but now Jeanie more closely resembled an old jalopy.  
"She's beautiful!" Peach exclaimed, stroking the dusty hood. "Does it still work, Captain?"  
"As well as anything," Falcon said proudly. He tried to open the door. It didn't budge. The Captain took off his thick gloves and wrenched it open. He took his keys out of his pocket and put them in the ignition. The engine started. "Of course, I don't use her any more.I mean the engine still goes and functions and everything.I don't see why you want it, though."  
"Hey, just 'cause I'm a princess doesn't mean I don't like cars," Peach snapped, looking through the windows at the leather seats. "She's perfect."  
Falcon shrugged. "Well, here you go." He tossed the keys to her gloved hands, and left the garage.  
  
Zelda meanwhile, was in the library reading. Most of the smashers had gone back outside, because the rainstorm had stopped abruptly. Link was the only other occupant of the room, reading as well.  
The two of them were sitting on opposite sides of a couch. If you were to be sitting on the same couch, you would be unable to see anyone enter the room (that's important, by the way).  
Turning a page, Zelda decided to break the silence. "Link, I've been wondering-" The princess looked up and screamed.  
Link appeared to be sleeping, only blood was seeping from his head. Instinctively, Zelda whipped around, but was too late to save herself. She received a hard blow to her skull.  
***  
  
Zelda woke up a few hours later. She tried to move her hands, but they were tied together tightly. It was purple and had blue stripes on it. The princess instantly recognized it as Ganon's jumping rope. She looked around her. The room was dark and damp, and appeared to be underground. But there was a window over her head.  
She smelled blood. Something trickled down her face. Suddenly, there was a sharp pain in her head, and she realized that the blood was coming from her own forehead. Then Zelda remembered that she had seen Link with a similar wound earlier. After that, she could't remember anything else.  
The elven princess turned her head towards a car that also occupied the room-and it was on!  
  
Alarmed, Zelda stared at it. The engine was on, but it wasn't moving. Exhaust was billowing out of the (exhaust) pipe.  
With a strong will, Zelda walked crab-style to the door. As she had dreaded it was locked. She eventually tried the car door as well, but it was locked too.  
Zelda desperately backed up against a wall. She slowly managed to get to her feet. The Hylian hopped with all her strength to the window-it was her last and only hope.  
She kicked a crate beneath the window. Zelda leapt on top of it backwards. Staring with horror at the car, she began to try opening the glass structure that was behind her. All through this process, Zel had been coughing horribly. She had no idea how long she'd been in the room. All that she knew was that the carbon monoxide was really getting to her. Zelda was also fully aware that her life hung in balance.  
Finally, Zelda was able to open the window a smidge. Using her head, she made the opening get larger and some of the poisonous gas started to flow outside.  
Coughing hysterically, Zelda tried to speak. "Help! Help!" she choked. Her voice was so soft, it was almost unnoticeable. It was cracked and low.  
A recognizable pair of pink heeled shoes came walking by. "Peach!" Zelda cried. The feet stopped and turned. "Peach! I'm down here!"  
Peach's face appeared at the window. "Zel, what're you doing down there?! Is that car on?" she cried. The engine's sound was no longer subtle, thanks to the open window.  
"Peach, help me!" Zelda gasped in a whisper. "I'm in some sort of garage or something.carbon monoxide is getting to me."  
"I'll be right there!" Peach shouted, scrambling to her feet. "Hang on, Zel!"  
  
By the time Peach got to garage, Zelda was lying on the floor. She was not moving, and her eyes were closed. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* DUN DUN DUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 


	25. Pain

No, Zelda was not dead. She was, however, in the hospital at the battle grounds. Her eyes slowly opened, and she saw Dr. Mario bent over a computer.  
"Dr. Mario?" she whispered. He whipped around, slightly surprised that she had spoken.  
"How-a are you-a feeling?" he asked her.  
"Not well enough to battle tomorrow," Zelda coughed.  
"That is-a what we-a thought," said Dr. Mario. "We have-a substituted you with-a Peach."  
"Good. I'm sure she'll do fine." Zelda sighed. Then she remembered what had happened to her. "Doctor," she said. "Where is Link?"  
"Link? He is-a already out," Mario's doc version said. "We put-a his head-a in bandages, and-a he is-a lying in bed. But you-a are much-a worse off, Zelda."  
A nurse came in and whispered something to Dr. Mario. He nodded, and she left. Zelda slowly turned her head towards the door, as Summer, her father, and Impa walked in.  
Summer was the first to reach Zelda's bedside. "Zellie, what happened to you?" she whispered, picking up her cousin's hand.  
"I don't know for sure," Zelda answered. "All that I can comprehend is that somebody tried to kill me."  
"Kill you?!" King Harkinian asked incredulously.  
Dr. Mario nodded. "She-a got two swift-a blows to-a the head," he told them, swinging his arms to show what might have happened. "Then-a Peach found -a her in-a the-a garage. Zelda would-a have died-a from the-a carbon monoxide-a poison, if-a Peach hand't-a saved her in-a time."  
Impa nodded with relief. "Peach can sometimes be hard to have around, but she can really come in handy sometimes."  
"Where is Peach?" Zelda asked quietly.  
"She's outside," Summer answered. "We saw her when we came in."  
"Do you wish for her to come in?" King Harkinian asked. Zelda nodded. The three Hylians left, and shortly afterwards Peach came in.  
She ran to Zelda and collapsed onto the chair next to her. "Oh Zelda, I can't believe what happened to you!" she cried. "It's so horrid!"  
"Well at least you didn't have to suffer through it," Zelda said. "I'm never driving in a car again." There was a silence. "I hear that you're going to battle for me tomorrow."  
"Yeah," said Peach, smiling forcefully. There was another silence. "I want you to know that we're trying as hard as we can to find out who's done this to you and Link."  
"Great. I really appreciate it." Zelda started shuddering, and Dr. Mario pushed a tearful Peach away.  
"You had-a better go-a, Peach," he said, moving his hands over Zelda's arm. "Get-a me when-a they hold-a the meeting. I will-a bring the Princess with-a me on-a her stretcher.  
Peach nodded, and ran out the door, brushing away her tears. The whole affair was just horrid. Horrible. And she knew who did it. 


	26. Court House 9

Much to the spectators' anger, the battles for the next day had also been canceled. Of course, they knew nothing of the situation concerning Zelda.  
The cause of the repeal was due to a meeting that was taking place between all the smashers, Impa, Summer, and King Harkinian and Toadstool.  
Everyone sat there anxiously. Zelda and Link were lying on strectchers that had been slightly propped up. The conference was being held to try and figure out who was guilty of attempted murder.  
Zelda was forced to painfully tell of the events that had occurred the other day. There were many gasps from the smashers.  
"Zel, that's horrible,"Link whispered, leaning over and giving her hand a small squeeze.  
Her eyes were brimming with tears. "But I don't know who could have done it," she said to the whole congregation. "But whoever it was, I'm sorry for whatever it was I did that upset you."  
"You did nothing, Zelda," said King Toadstool, taking a stand. "Now princess, you say that there was a car in the garage. Whose was it?"  
"I don't know," Zelda admitted. "All I can remember is that it seemed really beat up, and it was a kind of cerulean blue."  
Captain Falcon suddenly turned pale. "J-Jeanie," he whispered.  
"What?" asked Samus.  
"T-that's my car!" he stammered. There was a long thing of quietness.  
  
"Is that a confession?" Samus asked callously.  
"No!"  
"It couldn't have been Falcon," Zelda coughed wearily. Everybody turned sharply in her direction.  
"Why not?" asked Fox.  
"It couldn't have been Falcon," she reiterated.  
"Yes, you said that, but why not?" Falco questioned.  
"He-he's too stupid."  
"You know," said Samus thoughtfully. "She does have a point."  
"The whole thing could just be a mask!" Peach shouted to them. "I mean, who knows? The whole stupid act could just be made up! Who KNOWS what brilliant mastermind Captain Falcon could be under all that stupidity?!"  
"Why thank you, I'm flattered," said Falcon.  
"You shouldn't be!!" Peach yelled at him.  
"Wait a second," said Captain Falcon slowly. "Jeanie's not my car any more!" The crowd started murmuring. "You bought it from me!" The speed racer pointed his finger at Peach.  
"Are you insinuating that I am responsible for trying to murder Zelda?!" Peach screeched. "How DARE you!" The smashers looked at her in disbelief, waiting for her to continue. "Why, you sold me that junky car just yesterday! Only hours before Zelda's attempted murder!!" She turned towards the others. "Don't you see?! He's trying to frame me!! He sold me the car, and then used it to try and kill Zel, and make it look like I did it because he sold it to me!"  
Captain Falcon looked horrified. Everyone now looked at him, waiting for him to say something in his defense. "I-I didn't do it!" he finally managed.  
"Anything to back that up?" Samus asked coldly.  
"Well first off, why would I even want to kill Zelda?"  
The smashers all had to agree that that was a good point. But who else in this room would want to kill the Hyrulian princess? Slowly, DK lifted his finger, and pointed at someone in the room.  
"You."  
All eyes followed the direction of DK's stern gaze, and it led them to Gannondorf. His eyes widened.  
"No!" he cried. "No! I didn't do it!"  
"Yes, you could have!" Young Link accused. "The poker game, the tango, you were just kissing up to Zelda, trying to gain her trust!" There were several nods and mumbles of agreement.  
Ganon shook his head with disbelief. "No! Believe me, my ways have changed!" No one looked convinced.  
"That's the problem," said Marth. "We have no proof! And until we do, we can't accuse anyone of the felony!"  
"He's right," Roy seconded.  
"Well then what was the point of this meeting?" Kirby asked.  
"We have two suspects," King Harkinian declared. He turned to his fellow king Toadstool. "I suggest that we place them both under castle arrest until this whole matter is cleared."  
"We can't do that," Roy stated.  
"Well why on earth not?"  
"Innocent until PROVEN guilty, remember?"  
"Isn't it at all possible that someone OTHER than one of us may have committed this crime?" Samus asked.  
"No, it wasn't," said Peach. Everybody's heads turned in her direction, waiting for her to enlighten them. "After you all went outside, Impa, Zel and I locked all the doors. We were just playing a game-you know, a joke. To lock you outside and see how you would react."  
"Is that true, Impa?" King Harkinian asked, surprised that she'd do that.  
"Yes," Impa sighed. "So there goes that possibility. Though I must say, it does narrow our list of suspicious characters."  
"Hey, wait a second," said Link, gazing around the room. "Where-where are Mewtwo and Ness?"  
The smashers looked around, and noticed that the pokemon and small boy were indeed nowhere to be found.  
"Where are they?" Young Link thundered. "They MUST have known about this meeting! It was announced several times!!"  
"And I don't recall seeing them today at all," Ganon said.  
"Or last night!" Kirby shouted.  
"Jiggly-jig jiggy?!" Jigglypuff screeched.  
Everyone looked around for Mewtwo. "Oh great!" sighed Samus. "Now we don't have that stupid pokemon to translate for us anymore."  
"I said 'what if they did it," Jigglypuff stated in perfect English. Everyone stared at her, and she suddenly covered her mouth. "Oops!"  
"Hey, you've been able to speak English THIS WHOLE TIME?!?!" Samus bellowed. The pink puffy poofball nodded silently. Samus calmed down. "Well why didn't you just speak our language in the first place?"  
Jigglypuff folded her arms and shook her head.  
"Look, this is getting slightly off topic," King Toadstool finally said.  
"It all makes sense now," said Zelda quietly.  
"What does?" Summer asked.  
"Well, who ever tried to kill me had to get rid of them."  
"Get rid of who?" asked Peach  
"Ness and Mewtwo," Zelda answered calmly.  
"But what for?" Bowser inquired.  
"Simply because the two of them are both psychic." Everyone stared at the princess with confused looks. "They would easily be able to tell which of you did it by reading your minds. It would take them no effort to discover the guilty one."  
As everyone thought this over, three gloved Toads walked into the room. One was carrying a rope, and another was holding.car keys? The third whispered something (long) to King Toadstool. He gestured towards the rope and keys, then he left the room. ~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~*~ OOOOH! Mysteeeeeeeeeeerious!!! review, please! 


	27. Interperative Dancing

After a few days, Link and eventually Zelda were allowed out of the careful watch of Dr. Mario.  
"Oh, it feels so wonderful to be outside again!" Zelda cheered, sitting down on a bench by the gym. "If I'm ever forced into another hospital in my life, I swear I shall scream."  
"Well, I wouldn't blame you," said Link sympathetically, sitting down next to her. "You know, I think everyone's going to wonder where we've been for the past few days."  
"Oh, it's all right," said Zelda, taking Link's bag and opening it. "Master hand has taken care of everything."  
"Um, pardon me, Princess," Link interjected. Zelda was busy rummaging around in his sack. "What exactly are you looking for?"  
"I'm looking for that charming-oh, here it is!" Zelda pulled a blue item out of his bag. "The Ocarina of time." She handed it to Link, who seemed puzzled. "Go on Link, play it!"  
The hero of time stared at the ocarina for a long time. "Okay." He paused. "On one condition."  
"What?"  
"That you do interpretive dancing while I play."  
"That's not a fair deal," Zelda complained, though laughing. "I haven't danced solo for over six years!"  
"Don't worry yourself princess," said Young Link, entering the scene. "If my older self refuses to play the ocarina for you, I'll do it. Besides, I've done it more recently and I'm probably better at it."  
"You are NOT!" Link shouted. "And I'll prove it to you!"  
Immediately, the two elves whipped their ocarinas to their mouths, and started to play. It was a very slow tune, which really dragged.  
Zelda laughed, and stood up. She knew that the two Links were trying to be serious, but she couldn't help it. The princess stood up and started to slowly, but gracefully "dance." She was mocking their severe faces, and tried to look like she wasn't making fun of them.  
But as she'd thought, her two friends broke into laughter. "You shouldn't make fun of us like that Zel," Young Link said.  
"I wasn't poking fun," Zelda defended. "Link asked me to do interpretive dancing, and I did."  
"Okay, well dance this, genius!" Link shouted. And once again, he began to play. Only this time, the song was much, much quicker. Young Link couldn't keep up, and Zelda stared at him. Link gestured with one of his hands for her to start.  
The Hylian princess shrugged, then started twirling. It seemed almost like a gymnastics sequence more than a dance, and yet it was so smooth that it could be called what Link described as "interpretive dancing."  
On the final, lingering note, Zelda threw herself dramatically at Link's feet. There came a round applause from behind them. The three elves turned to see Mario and Luigi.  
"That-a was-a very beautiful-a song, Link," said Luigi, as the two plumbers walked up to them.  
"Yes, and-a such-a marvelous dancing Zelda," Mario added. "I am-a so glad that-a you were-a able to-a heal so-a quickly."  
"Well you know, the doctor form of you is so adept at it," Zelda said, standing up. "Oh yes, that reminds me. I was going to go visit Ganon and Falcon today with Samus."  
"I-a am afraid-a that-a you can't-a do that, princess," Mario cut in. "The guards-a were told-a not to-a let any-a one in."  
Link snorted. "We'll find a way in. Mind if I come with, Zel?"  
"'Course not," Zelda responded, walking towards the gym. She motioned for him to follow. "Let's go get Samus." ~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~***** sorry if this chapter seemed relatively short. 


	28. The Barbara Streisand Dungeon

Samus, Link and Zelda were pushing against a door with all their might. It was the door to the Barbara Streisand Dungeon, and they needed to get through. They'd been pushing at the door for about thirty minutes.  
"Oh, I'm so stupid!" Zelda insulted herself. She stepped back, and spun around until blue sparks came flying from her body (Nayru's love). The sparks created several holes in the door.  
Link stuck his hand through one of them, and twisted the door knob. The door slowly opened.  
"You're right," Link agreed, as the three of them crept down the staircase. "You are stupid."  
"Hey!" Zelda snapped. "You could've used that dumb sword to get us in!" The two of them turned to Samus.  
"No comment."  
"Sh!" Zelda shushed. "Here's a guard."  
Sure enough, there was a burly, gorilla-like guard standing with his back to them. Zelda tapped his shoulder.  
He turned around sharply. The three smashers were hidden in the shadows. "Who goes there?"  
"Hello, Dolly." Zelda grabbed Link's sword, and smashed the hilt on the guard's head. Several others came rushing towards her.  
Meanwhile, Samus had been charging up a power ball. She let it fly, and knocked out all nine guards.  
"Nice one Sam," Zelda praised.  
"Nothin' to it, Zel."  
They approached Ganon's cell first. Link, who had taken the keys from one of the guard's pockets, unlocked the doors.  
Gannondorf was lying on the floor, breathing deeply. He suddenly snapped his head up, and stared at the three of them. His eyes were bloodshot, and his face was a ghastly white color.  
"G-Ganon!" Zelda gasped.  
"No sleep," he croaked. "Streisand kept me awake. Unearthly music forced me to stay up."  
Samus squatted so that she was level with Ganon's face. She stared straight into his red eyes. "Ganon," she said seriously. "Look me in the eye. Did you do it?  
"No," he whispered. "No, I swear to you that I didn't! I told you.my ways have been changed!" He was looking directly at Samus, and his voice was sure and not quavering. Ganon was telling the truth.  
"I believe you," Zelda said quietly, rubbing her arms from the cold. "But the only thing is that we can't prove your innocence."  
Ganon ran his hands through his hair. Then suddenly, he leapt up. "THAT IS IT, ZELDA!!!" he shouted. The frighteningly large man grabbed Zelda in a hug and swung her around.  
"GEeeeTTT HiiiIIIImmmMM oFFff MeeEEEeeE!!!" Zelda shouted, as Ganon twirled her around. He put her down, and she gave him a strange look. "What is it, Gannondorf?"  
"Don't you remember when we held that meeting a few days back?" he asked. His fellow smashers nodded slowly. "Peach said that you, Impa, and herself had locked the doors as a joke after everyone went outside!" He grinned hugely.  
".Aaaand?" Link asked.  
"EVERYONE went outside!" he reiterated. "Including me! And I also gave Peach my jumping rope while I was outdoors earlier!"  
"Well then why did your fingerprints show up instead of hers?" Samus asked him.  
"She was wearing gloves!"  
"Hmmm, she had on gloves, eh? Suspicious." Link mused to himself.  
"No, it's not!" said Zelda. She pinched one of her own gloves. "She's a princess like me, and wears these elbow-length gloves all the time!" Link frowned, as the princess continued. "But Ganon is right about being locked outside. At the time that I was attacked, both you and Captain Falcon wouldn't have been able to get in!!"  
"Goddesses, you're right!" Link shouted.  
"But I'm still going to be stuck here!" Ganon wailed. "The King has point blank refused to let me speak to him!"  
"Well then how can he hope to ever release you if he found out that you were truly innocent?!"  
Gannondorf shrugged. "I don't know. I guess that once he gets enough evidence he'll free us."  
"Well I can be your witness Ganon," Samus volunteered. "I was the only one of us who was with you at the time."  
"And it couldn't have been Falcon either," Link said. "Because he would have been out there at the same time as you two."  
"So what we still have to figure out is who really-" Ganon came to a stop.  
Zelda was already lying on the floor with agony. "Please, for the sake of my sensitive ears-SHUT THAT WOMAN UP!!"  
Samus and Link eventually caught on. Barbara Streisand's voice was flowing through the hallways. Apparently, the guards had woken up from their unconscious state. Not remembering what had just happened to them, they decided to turn on their music.  
They could hear Captain Falcon screaming in the cell next door.  
"And today, we've decided to put the stereo in YOUR CELL!!" one of the guards shouted, laughing maniacally.  
"You'd better go," Ganon warned them. "Who knows what would happen if they found you here?"  
With a quick good-bye, Samus, Zelda and Link left the infamous dungeon. 


	29. Summer's Nightmare

Zelda returned to her room. Summer ran up to her, and buried her face into her cousin's dress.  
"Summer, what's the matter?" Zelda asked, prying the girl's hands off her.  
"I HAD A BAD DREAM!!!" she wailed.  
"Wait a second-it's only like, 5:00. Why were you asleep?"  
"I was watching tv and there was a really boring movie on and I fell asleep! There's a Barbara Streisand Marathon on every channel!!"  
Zelda started to slowly make her way to Summer's bedroom. Geez, they should only be able to issue those marathons in the Barbara Streisand Dungeon! she thought to herself.  
Summer crawled into her bed and started to cry once more. Zelda sat down next to her. "Come on sweetie, what was it? You can tell me."  
"It was awful-terrible! I don't even want to talk about it!!"  
"Sometimes it helps to talk about these kind of things."  
The phone rang. Annoyed, Zelda picked it up. "Hello? Oh, hi Samus! Uh- huh. But they--Wha? No!You don't say?" Zelda started to laugh.  
"I'm serious!" Samus said from her room. "They found out that Falcon is allergic to Barbara Streisand! He's been demoted to the Frank Sinatra dungeon!!"  
"Wait a second, is that better or worse than Barb?" Zelda asked.  
"I dunno. I think that he thinks Sinatra is worse. I could hear his screaming all the way from my room. I heard that the only way they shut him up was by threatening to lock him up in the Fred Astaire Dungeon next."  
Zelda laughed again, said good-bye, then turned back to Summer. "I'm sorry about that. I'm still working a bit on.my.case."  
"I know," Summer sniffed, wiping her eyes. "A silly little girl's dream is nothing in the big picture."  
"But it wasn't a dream," said Zelda, putting her arms around her cousin. "By the way you talk about it, it was a nightmare! Please, tell me."  
"Okay," Summer whispered, inhaling. "Everything was blurry. There were two people. I recognized one of them was you-you did your taunt-but it was impossible to tell who the other one was."  
"What did I do?" Zelda asked curiously.  
"Well at first, you didn't do anything. Then suddenly everything got clear, and yet the other person was still an outline. They were filled with a blackish color like a shillouette or something and they were wielding something at you." She burst into tears again.  
"There there," Zelda soothed, hugging Summer. "Forgive me if I'm not being sensitive, but.why is that so horrible it's making you cry?"  
"I'm n-not finished yet!" Summer sniffed. "They killed you, Zelda! They stuck the thing they were holding right through your head!!" Zelda's eyes widened and her cousin continued. "They poked it through your ear, and all this blood and guts and-"  
"Okay, okay," Zelda interrupted. "No need to go into extreme details." Summer sobbed into Zel's shoulder, and the Hylian princess patted her back awkwardly. "Besides, it was just a dream. Just a-"  
"Nightmare," Summer corrected. "Oh Zelda, I feel so sick. I think I may be coming down with something or other."  
"It's all right, it's okay," Zelda said, getting up. "Do you feel like going to bed now?" Summer nodded, and got under her covers as Zelda turned down the light. Then she sprang up.  
"No! No, I don't wanna go to bed! What if I have another nightmare?!"  
  
"You won't, trust me," Zelda assured her. "Here." She handed the remote to Summer and picked up a tv guide. She thumbed through it. "You're right. There is nothing on but Barbara Streisand." Zelda glanced at the clock. "Well what do you know-it'll be done in about three minutes." She gave Summer a small kiss on the forehead, and started to leave the room. "I'm going to dinner now. Don't wait up for me, I may be a little late."  
Summer nodded, and watched her cousin close the door. 


	30. Dinner

"Hiya Zel," greeted Link, as she sat down beside him. "You're a bit late for dinner tonight. What's up?"  
"Oh nothing," Zelda answered. "Summer just had a nightmare that's all, and she wanted to tell me about it."  
"Oh."  
Zelda gestured towards his chicken pot pie. "Is that any good?"  
"Yeah, you want some?"  
"Nope. You've got awful taste." Zelda turned back to her own poppy seed pumpkin soup.  
Link laughed. "Oh, did Samus tell you? They're moving Captain Falcon to the Frank Sinatra Dungeon."  
"Yeah, I heard," Zelda snickered. "She said he was allergic to Barbara Streisand or something."  
"So.are you going to be busy later?" Link asked, staring at his plate.  
"No, I'm not," Zelda answered, looking up. "Why, do you want to do som-ething tonight?"  
"Well.kind of. Yes."  
"I think that'd be great. I'm still trying to get the whole almost dying thing out of my head."  
Link nodded. "I understand."  
"Zelda?"  
The princess jumped as Marth called her name. She looked up, and noticed that he had been sitting right across from her the whole time. "Oh. Hi, Marth."  
"Um, hello," he mumbled. "I know you just said that you might want to go do something with Link, but there's going to be a publicity meeting about your almost murder."  
Zelda spat out her spam. "What?!"  
"Well you know, the press is very interested about how you almost died and all that."  
"But who informed them?! I told everyone to keep it quiet!" Zelda shouted.  
"I did," Marth said, baffled. "I presumed that you might want to, you know, let it out of your system and-"  
"Tell the whole world about it?!" Zelda yelled, standing up. "Don't you make such presumptions about me!" She stalked out of the room. Link got up as well, and followed her.  
"So," Kirby said cheerfully to Mario. "How's the plumber business?"  
"It's-a okay," Mario, said rolling his eyes. "Of-a course, battling ugly-a monsters and-a saving beautiful-a princesses is much-a more fun!"  
"Who you callin' ugly, brute?" Bowser asked.  
"Certainly not-a you!" said Luigi. There was a silence, and the four of them looked around.  
"You know," said Kirby. "That's where I would have expected Captain Falcon to say something like 'but Bowser IS an ugly monster.'"  
"HEY!" Bowser shouted.  
"That-a is only-a because Falcon is-a stupid, and would-a probably call-a even himself-a ugly," Luigi said quickly.  
"Okay."  
"Poor guy," Peach sighed. "He's allergic to Barbara Streisand, so they were forced to move him to the Frank Sinatra Dungeon."  
"I know, but which is worse?" Samus asked.  
"You know, I-a kind of-a like Barbara Streisand-a," Mario commented. "I am-a beginning to-a think-a that I wouldn't-a mind being in-a her dungeon."  
"WHAT?! ARE-A YOU-A INSANE?!" Luigi shouted. "I CANNOT-A EVEN-A BELIEVE WE ARE-A RELATED!!"  
"Geez, calm down Luigi," said Samus. "And Mario-all you have to do to land yourself in that Streisand prison is try to kill Zelda."  
There was some laughter, but Peach looked very stern. "That wasn't funny Samus," she sniffed.  
"Oh come on," said Samus. "Zelda would laugh at it."  
"Yeah, well I'm not." 


	31. Amy March and Psycho

By this time, Zelda and Link had made their way to the lake by Peach's castle. It had suddenly grown very dark, and the moon's reflection on the water was stunning.  
"Well, we didn't exactly go anywhere," Link sighed. But he was smiling.  
"What, you mean like to dinner? We already had it. Are you complaining or something?" Zelda asked.  
"No. I'm not."  
She sighed."You know Link, I'm just going to say this now and get it over with: I don't ever want to talk about what happened to me a few days ago. I don't want it to take over and change my life. I just have to be grateful that I wasn't killed. So please, don't bring it up."  
"Don't worry Zel. "Link, I was going to ask-"  
"AHOY THERE, MATEYS!!"  
Link and Zelda, who had been sitting on the dock, had failed to noticed Fox and Falco's sailboat. It was as if they hadn't been paying attention to anything but each other (awwww, ain't that sweet???? Ask Amy March!!). Zelda almost went toppling into the icy lake water.  
Fox waved at them, grinning. "Do ya like her?" he called out.  
"'Course I do!" Link shouted back. "Why on earth do you think I'd be out here freezing to death if I didn't like her?"  
"Not the princess, half-wit!" Falco shouted, laughing. "Our new boat! The two of us have spent five days on it!"  
The boat was very impressive for having had only five days of work. "She looks just great!" Zelda called.  
"You guys better move out of the way!" Fox warned. "We're comin' in to dock her!"  
The two elves got to their feet and stood back. Then they started to slowly make their way back to the castle.  
  
"Young Link? This is Summer. Over."  
"Summer? What do you see? Over."  
"They're headed back this way. Over."  
Young Link and Summer were both in their separate rooms. The two of them had been spying on Zelda and Link, and keeping each other informed by use of walkie-talkies. Young Link's vision suddenly got blocked by a bunch of trees.  
"I lost sight of them. What's happening? Over."  
"Goddesses! I don't believe it!.Over."  
"What? WHAT?!..Over."  
"Your older self kissed Zelda! (sigh) Oh, it's so ROMANTIC!.Over."  
"What? He did? I thought he'd never get the nerve. Over."  
"Gotta stop. They're walking in, and Zelda's going to expect me to be in bed. Bye. Over."  
Summer turned off her two-way radio and threw it into her drawer. She got up from her position on the window sill and onto the bed. Summer turned on the tv. Just as she heard Zelda open the door, she sat up, pretending to have been lying down and watching television.  
"Hi Zellie," she greeted.  
"H-hi." Zelda was swaying back and forth, but smiling so happily that it made Summer grin as well. Zelda then stood straight, putting her hand on the tv to steady herself. "Did you shower?" she asked, taking out her earrings.  
"Yes."  
"Okay." Zelda started to leave the room, then stopped half-way. She turned around. "Did you.tonight?"  
"Oh, poop." Summer started mumbling as she trudged over to the door.  
Zelda glanced at what was on tv before turning it off. It had been that old Hitchcock movie Psycho. "You shouldn't be watching these scary movies. It'll give you nightmares for a week. And that's what you're trying to get rid of, remember?" She heard Summer slam the bathroom door. "It's rated R anyway."  
Water started running. Zelda flopped down on the bed and turned the box back on. Summer started whistling faintly, and Zelda rolled her eyes. She thought that whistling and showering didn't mix.  
"It's whistle while you work, Summer," she called. "Not shower."  
On tv, Zelda watched Janet Leigh turn on her own shower. There were the many odd camera shots, and the princess had to smirk at them. She then noticed a shadow approach the shower from the bathroom. The figure flung back the curtain and stabbed the innocent female numerous times.  
Zelda was left horror-stricken, as Janet collapsed to the floor, dead. A few minutes later, Summer walked out of the bathroom.  
"There, are you happy?" she asked. Zelda was staring at the television blankly, then turned it off. "Okay Zellie, it's your turn now."  
"I'LL NEVER SHOWER AGAIN!! AAAAAHH!" And with that, Zelda ran screaming from the room.  
".Okayyyy."  
  
In her own room, Zelda was sitting on a chair reading. She glanced up, and looked her harp that stood in the corner. Link had asked her to bring it, but she couldn't see why. It had probably taken forty Toads to get it all the way up there, because it was so immensely heavy. Zelda tried to decide whether to continue reading or to play her harp.  
Then she heard notes. Musical notes, wafting their way up to her tower from the ground outside. Zelda recognized the sound immediately as an ocarina. She got to her feet and went to the balcony. As she had thought, she saw Link sitting on a bench playing away.  
After a few more moments of listening, Zelda recognized the tune as Greensleeves. She sang along softly, until it was over. After he finished, Zelda had expected Link to leave. But instead, he just sat there, staring out at the lake. She got the picture.  
Zelda walked over to her harp, and rolled it over to the balcony (it was now on wheels). After tuning it quickly, she wondered what to play. She knew that Link was simply waiting for her to play something in return, or else he would have gotten up and left.  
Slowly, Zelda started playing Canon. At first, the song dragged and was a little slow. Then the princess started remembering the chords, and played it faster. By the end, she had played the song beautifully in its entirety and without a single flaw. Link applauded below her. Smiling, Zelda pulled out a crimson rose from a bouqet resting on her nightstand. She through it down to Link, who caught it, and grinned. He whirled around, and then tangoed away.  
Getting under her bedcovers, Zelda smiled enormously. The day had taken her whole mind off of her attempted murder, and she couldn't wait for tomorrow. 


	32. Snowstorm

The next morning, Link stepped outside his room, and something hit his head. "Ouch!" he exclaimed, rubbing the spot.  
"Oops! Sorry Link!"  
He saw Fox bent over, picking something up off the floor. It was a wreath. "What's with the wreath?" Link asked.  
"Hello!? Don't you know what day it is?"  
".no.."  
"It's December first!" Falco shouted, who was pulling a cart full of wreaths behind him. "We're showing our holiday spirit by putting these things up on all of the doors!"  
"Can I help?"  
"Sure! The more the merrier!"  
The three smashers went running down the hallways, laughing merrily. "It feels like I'm on my paper route again!" Fox cried. "Only I'm delivering wreaths, INSTEAD OF NEWSPAPERS!! AH HA HA HA!!!"  
"You know," said Falco, as they got into an elevator headed towards the north tower. "We're probably waking up everyone with all this shouting."  
"Serves them right," Link snorted, grinning. "They should've been up hours ago."  
Zelda stuck her head out of her door and looked around. She had heard laughing, and wondered who it was. "Hello?"  
"HELLO, PRINCESS!" Link shouted, running up to her and hugging her.  
"Oh, uh, hi Link," she said. "What're you doing?"  
Fox and Falco came jogging up. "We're decorating for the holidays!" said the one that isn't a bird. "Link decided to give us a hand!"  
Zelda glanced out the window, and her face broke into a magnificent grin. "IT'S SNOWING OUTSIDE!!" she shouted. "How perfect is that? Right on the first day of December!"  
The four of them, still in their pajamas, started dancing around the hallways screaming with joy. Of course, this commotion didn't go unnoticed.  
  
"What are you guys doing?" Samus asked wearily, poking her head into the hallway. Zelda rushed up to her.  
"IT'S THE FIRST DAY OF DECEMBER!!" she shouted. "AND IT'S SNOWING OUTSIDE!!"  
Samus' eyes widened, and she ran out of her door. She joined the other smashers in dancing down the corridors. Falco abandoned his empty cart, and they flew down the stairs to wake up everyone else.  
"Ooh, look!" Zelda exclaimed, coming to an immediate halt. The others stopped behind her, and they all looked curiously over her shoulder. "It's the breakfast gong that hasn't been used for sixteen centuries!!"  
"OOOH!!" oohed her fellow smashers. They all picked up the giant stick, and banged the gong as hard as they could four times.  
The gong, which was probably the size of a baby elephant, rang out across the grounds, waking everyone up. Zelda, Samus, Link, Fox and Falco smiled as they heard shouts of excitement and joy. Their friends had discovered the snow.  
At breakfast that day, hardly anyone could sit still. All that snow was sitting outside, just waiting to be played in.  
"It must-a have snowed-a all-a night," Mario concluded, passing the orange juice to Peach. "Just-a look how tall-a it is!"  
"Yeah," said Link. "But.it's really too bad that Gannondorf and Captain Falcon can't come with us."  
"You're right," sighed Samus. "Well, about the Ganon part anyway. I'm not sure if I feel so bad about Falcon."  
Link pounded his fist on the table. "I'm going to help them," he whispered.  
"Oh Link, what could you possibly do now?" asked Zelda, trying to get a bone out of her chicken-and-scrambled-eggs cereal.  
"Try and prove to King Toadstool that Falcon and Ganon are innocent."  
  
"But you can't!" Peach blurted. Link and Zelda stared at her. "I mean, my father hardly ever changes his mind. And besides, you'll miss all the fun outside."  
Link stood up. "I think I'll go talk him now."  
Zelda sighed as he walked away. "Well, there goes the hero of time. He never gives up."  
"Neither does my father," Peach mumbled.  
  
"Sire," Link said, bowing. "May I talk to you in private about something?"  
King Toadstool stood up. "Certainly, Link." The two of them walked into the den behind the dining room.  
"It's about Falcon and Gannondorf," Link began.  
Peach's father rolled his eyes. "What, do you want me to put Ganon in the Frank Sinatra dungeon as well? I mean one-"  
"No, no, nothing like that," Link interrupted. "I'm trying to prove that they are innocent."  
King Toadstool frowned. "Why do you speak in their behalf now? Like instead of last week?"  
"Because I wasn't it my right mind then!" Link shouted. "But it's obvious to anyone with eyes that they did not do it!"  
"Well then, what is this obvious evidence, Link?"  
Hyrule's hero took a glimpse out the window. He saw all of his fellow smashers out in the snow. "Simply because.well.Zelda was in the castle right before she was almost killed, right?"  
"Right." said King Toadstool slowly.  
"And EVERYONE but her, me, and Princess Peach were outside, right?"  
"Yes.where is this getting to?" the King asked. "Is it not possible that they might have just gone inside and done it?"  
"That's my point, highness!" Link cried. "It was NOT possible!"  
"My dear boy, why on earth not?"  
"Because Peach said that she, Impa, and Zelda had locked everybody outside as a joke! A joke! So no one would have been able to get in! And that clearly means that it must have been someone inside the castle that did it!"  
Breathing heavily, Link collapsed into a chair. King Toadstool let it sink in. "You.you must be right. You may be right."  
"I am right!" Link choked.  
"Go!" King Toadstool commanded. "I will think this over." 


	33. Barb and Frankie

Note: I am very sorry to all Barbara Streisand and Frank Sinatra fans (if there are any out there) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As it turned out, the ruler of the Mushroom Kingdom had let Ganon and Captain Falcon out of prison. Of course, they hadn't been allowed to go alone.  
"If you sing just one note," Ganon said to the person handcuffed to him. "ONE NOTE, I swear I will strangle you to death."  
"But that's my job, doll," said Barbara Streisand cheerfully.  
"And nothin' outta you, either!" Falcon barked rudely to the man that he was attatched to.  
"Don't worry," Frank Sinatra chuckled. "I wouldn't dream of it."  
Zelda took one look at the unfortunate smashers, and laughed. Then she found Link and ran up to him.  
"Oh Link, you're simply wonderful! A dear, you really are! I wouldn't have thought it possible for anyone to change King Toadstool's mind!" She threw her arms around him and gave him a kiss. Link flushed and fell in the snow.  
"It was nothing, Princess," he said modestly, standing up. Marth glared in their direction.  
Nearby, the Ice Climbers were skating on the lake that had frozen over. "THIS IS SO FUN!!" Nana shouted, doing a figure eight.  
"I know!" Popo laughed, twirling gracefully.  
"I wonder if they've ever considered entering the Olympics?" Falco asked, lacing up his own skates.  
"Probably not," DK stated. "They've got enough on their minds with the Super Smash Brothers Tournament.  
"WOO-HOO!" Fox was snowboarding down a large hill, but without grace. At the end, he tried to do a flip, and ended up having his face buried in snow.  
"You think that was something, Foxy?!" Impa called down to him. The Hyrulian woman jumped onto her own snowboard and headed down the hill. When she reached the jump at the end of the hill that Fox had attempted to flip off of, she twirled gracefully, and landed on her feet.  
"Wow!" Summer shouted. "That was so cool!"  
"I never knew you could do that!"Young Link yelled.  
The two elves were climbing up a hill with a black toboggan in tow. They were planning to go down together. "Do you want the front or back?" Young Link asked courteously.  
"Back," Summer answered, climbing onto it. Young Link got into the front.  
"Ready?" he asked.  
"Ready!" she responded, gripping the sides of the sled.  
"Here we GOOOoooooOOOO!"  
Screaming with enthusiasm, the two passengers went whizzing down the mound of snow. Neither of them could steer though, and they ended up crashing head long into Bowser's rear end.  
"HEY!" the king of Koopas shouted. He looked down, and saw Summer and Young Link getting up and brushing the snow off themselves.  
"Sorry Bowser," Young Link apologized. He turned to Summer. "Race you back up the hill!" With laughter, the pair ran back away.  
"You know, this is really weird," said Bowser, turning his attention back to the snowman he was making.  
"I-a know," said Mario, packing on some snow. "You are-a making a snow -a man with-a me and-a Luigi."  
"Not really that," Bowser snorted. "But the fact that I'm making a snow man with two famous singers who are handcuffed to my friends."  
"Would you please be quiet about that?" Captain Falcon begged.  
"Mario doesn't-a mind!" Luigi roared. "He likes-a that stupid-a Steisand-a woman!" His brother didn't seem offended, but someone else did.  
"Hey!" Barbara Streisand yelled. "I am NOT stupid!!"  
"Yes-a you are!" Luigi shouted.  
"PROVE IT!!"  
"You are-a handcuffed to an-a idiot!"  
"Now that's offensive!" Ganon defended.  
"Sorry-a, Ganon. Nothing-a personal."  
"HERE'S WHY YOU'RE STUPID, STREISAND!!"  
Suddenly, a snowball came zooming out of nowhere, and it was headed straight for Barb.  
"Ack!" she screamed. But alas, she was (fortunately) too late. The snowball collided with her face. "OKAY, WHO THREW THAT?!?!" she yelled.  
"I did," Zelda laughed, walking up to them with Link. "And I wouldn't fight with me if I were you. I'm a princess, and I have magical powers."  
"Wicked Witchcraft," Frank Sinatra crooned. "Though I knooow that it's strictly taboooooooo-"  
Captain Falcon took the snowman's head and jammed it onto Frank's, stopping him abruptly.  
"Let that be a lesson to you Barb," Gannondorf sneered. She sneered back, and Zelda threw a snowball at her before dashing off. Barbara Streisand tried to run after her, but Ganon had his feet planted firmly in the snow.  
King Harkinian was watching everyone outside from his own room. King Toadstool was with him, and they were deciding what to do about Gannondorf and Captain Falcon. He'd been told about Link's proof.  
"Link has a very good point," Zelda's father commented. "I think that you should release those two."  
"But what about the fingerprints?!" King Toadstool bellowed. "We can't just ignore that!"  
"I know we can't. But does chaining them to Barbara Streisand and Frank Sinatra make them un-guilty or something?"  
"No, but it's a sufficient penalty."  
"I think it's a cruel and unusual punishment." King Harkinian sighed. "Just think what you'd do if you were handcuffed between Matthew Broderick and Brittany Spears?"  
"I'd kill myself."  
"Precisely. Please put yourself in their shoes."  
King Toadstool sat and thought. "Innocent until proven guilty.again."  
  
The ruler of Hyrule smiled. "Going to wait for more evidence, then?"  
"Yes, Sherlock."  
  
Later that day, Ganon and Falcon were released, and Barb and Frankie were returned to their own dungeons and forced to listen to their own music. 


	34. I want to be free

"It feels so good to be free!" Ganon shouted at lunch.  
"I know what you mean," Captain Falcon said, rolling his eyes.  
"So if you weren't allergic to Barbara Streisand, would you say she or Frank Sinatra was worse?" Young Link asked, passing Zelda caviar and a bottle of pickle juice.  
"Zelda, tell me you're not putting that on the caviar," Samus said.  
"Of course I am," Zelda answered, surprised.  
"ANYWAY," Falcon interrupted. "Back to me. I hate both singers, Young Link, but Frank Sinatra is undoubtedly worse."  
Link nodded. "That's what I'd say."  
"Not me,"Young Link said. "Streisand can get reeaaalllly annoying."  
"What do you mean 'can get?'" Zelda asked. "She's ALWAYS annoying."  
The smashers laughed. Roy walked past Link and Zelda. "Hey Roy," Zelda called out. He turned around and grinned. "Where's Marth? Isn't he normally with you?" He grimaced. "Marth's in the hospital." "Why, what happened?" Zelda asked, more from curiousity than worry. "He tried to copy Link's snowboarding trick and broke his leg." The sword wielder walked away. Zelda had to suppress a laugh, even though she knew it was inconsiderate. Then suddenly, Kirby's eyes opened wide. "WHAT ON EARTH IS THAT?!?!?" he shouted.  
"What-a?" Mario asked, turning abruptly.  
Using Mario's distraction, Kirby swallowed the plumber whole. The Italian beat his fists on the bubblegum's inside, but couldn't get out.  
"Let-a me out-a of here!" came Mario's muffled voice.  
With a poof, he came flying out of Kirby's mouth, and Kirby was now wearing his hat.  
"I love this hat!" he shouted. "I like Luigi's hat too." Then he eyes widened again. "GREAT SCOTTISH TERRIERS!! DOTH MY EYES DECIEVE ME?!?!"  
"I am-a not going to fall-a for that-a one," Luigi scoffed.  
"No, I'm serious! Look!"  
Everyone but Luigi turned their heads to the window Kirby was staring goggle-eyed at. They saw Mewtwo and Ness trekking their way towards the castle.  
"Mama Mia!" Mario exclaimed, rushing to the dining hall doorway. "It is-a Mewtwo and-a Ness! They are-a back! Now they can-a tell us who-a the assassin-a really is!"  
Peach dropped her fork and started trembling. Nobody noticed. Her heart was beating ten times the usual rate.  
"Hello!" Mewtwo greeted them cheerfully, taking one of the vacant spots. "Phew! Sure is cold out there, isn't it Ness?"  
"Yep!" he replied.  
Then they noticed everyone was staring at them. "What is it?" Mewtwo asked. "You're looking at us like you want us to.like, read your mind or something. What's up?"  
"That's what we want you to do!" Nana shouted from the other side of the table. Mewtwo stared at her, then laughed.  
"Sorry, but we're not psychic anymore."  
"WHAT?!?" everyone shouted.  
"What?" Ness asked. "Being psychic can be VERY stressful sometimes." "But don't worry. I can still translate," Mewtwo said. "We just decided that we wanted a break from reading minds. Everyone asks us to do it, and it gets so annoying after a while."  
"Yeah," Ness added. "So we went to have our powers taken away until after the tournament. The shop will open up again in a few months."  
Peach sighed softly, and her heart rate returned back to normal.  
"NNNNNNNNOOOOOOO!!!!!"  
  
That afternoon, the two Kings explained the whole Zelda-carbon- monoxide thing to Mewtwo and Ness. As could be expected, they were tremendously angry with themselves for not being able to help.  
"It's all right," King Harkinian sighed. "It's not your fault."  
"And that stupid guy's shop won't be open for months!" Ness whined.  
"You wouldn't have gone had you known," King Toadstool acknowledged. 


	35. Snow fight

It seemed that Fox and Falco had set some kind of holiday trend with their wreaths. The next day, everyone else was bustling about decorating.  
"I'VE NEVER FELT SO ALIVE!!!" Gannondorf shouted, helping Captain Falcon string some lights around a huge Christmas Tree.  
"Enjoy it while you can," said Samus. "Here come some.devils to help serenade us."  
Ganon and Falcon whipped around and stared with horror at the entryway to the room. Barbara Streisand and Frank Sinatra were walking towards them.  
"I THOUGHT WE GOT RID OF YOU!!" Ganon bellowed.  
"You did," Barb sniffed in a haughty manner. "You need to sign these." She waved some papers at him.  
"And you these," Frank Sinatra said to Falcon, handing him some sheets.  
"What are these?" Ganon asked, as Barbara thrusted a pen in his hand.  
  
"They're legal documents allowing you to become our slaves," Frank said, rolling his eyes.  
"WHAT?!?" Captain Falcon screamed. "I AM NOT SIGNING THAT AND YOU CANNOT MAKE ME!!!"  
"He's joking, you dumbbell," Barbara Streisand spoke up. "They're your release papers."  
"Why do we need to sign them?" Gannondorf asked, penning his signature.  
Barb and Frank shrugged. "I dunno," the one who made an appearance as a sword in Who Framed Roger Rabbit said. "But it's the King's orders."  
"There!" Captain Falcon shouted, shoving the papers back at Frank Sinatra. "We've endorsed these papers, so go away and leave us alone!!"  
With a haughty air, the two Hollywood stars strutted out of the room.  
  
"They make me SICK!" Ganon spat, disgusted.  
"You're not alone," Samus laughed, handing Zelda a circular ornament. "I would rather, like, go out with Falcon than spend a day handcuffed to them." Captain Falcon stared at her. "But that's not going to happen because I'm not guilty. So don't-"  
But she was too late. Falcon went darting out the door, thrashing his arms and shouting: "WAIT!! GUYS, COME BACK!! I NEED YOU TO THREATEN SOMEONE!!! COME BACKKKKKKKKkkkkkk.!!!!!!!!!"  
"You think he'll do it?" Zelda asked.  
"Not a chance," Samus grunted, heaving Summer onto a chair so she could reach higher up. "I mean he'll do it, but I mean there's no way they'll help him so quickly." She laughed.  
Meanwhile, Peach and Kirby were hanging up mistletoe in random places. They were trying to find the library.  
"I can't believe that you don't know where your OWN library is," Kirby puffed, trying to keep up with his comrade.  
"Oh, shoosh your bouche!" Peach scolded. "Excuse my French. Ah, here we go!"  
"Why did we try to find it, anway?" Kirby asked, collapsing onto a chair. "I mean we could have always just put it up somewhere else. What's so sentimental about the library?"  
"Nothing. I like the library. Don't you like the library? I mean cause I like the library. The library's cool! It's-"  
"Okay, okay, I get the point. Just hang that stupid plant thing already."  
Peach did so, and they left the room. Dr. Mario strolled up to them  
"Hello-a, guys," he greeted.  
"Hi," said Kirby.  
"What's up?" asked Peach.  
"I was-a just lookin'-a for Barb-ara Streisand and-a Frank-a Sintra."  
  
"Why?" Peach and Kirby asked in unison.  
"Because-a I need to-a tell them to-a go to Los-a Angeles."  
".whhyyyy?"  
"They are-a supposed to perform-a a concert there," the doctor explained. "But-a they were so busy-a torturing Gannondorf and-a Captain Falcon, that-a they forgot."  
"Sorry, haven't seen 'em," said Kirby, walking away.  
  
"That was baaaaaaad form, Fox!!" cried Falco. The two of them were in the snow outside with Link, having a snow ball fight.  
"Ooh, right in the eyes!" Link laughed. "Good one, Fox. But try and top this one!" The swordsman picked up a chunk of snow and threw it as hard as he could towards Falco. The force was so powerful, it sent the bird off his feet.  
"Hey, that's no fair!" Falco complained, resuming his standing position. "You two can't gang up on me!"  
"I'll help you, Falco," came someone's voice. It was Marth.  
"Oh! Marth! Healed already?"  
The Altean prince grimaced darkly. "What're you talking about?"  
"No use lying," said Fox. "We all know about how you broke your leg in an attempt to copy Link and-"  
Fox was cut off by receiving a mouthful of ice. He quickly spat it out, and wriggled one of his teeth. It fell out.  
"Yep, he's on my team!" Falco cheered. "But let me take care of Fox. We have an argument to finish."  
"The bed by the wall is mine tonight, fair and square!" Fox cried.  
"Works for me," Marth whispered, scraping a piece of ice out from the snow. He ducked as a snowball came whirling in his direction. Link turned away with annoyance.  
"I don't think it's quite fair to use ice," the Hylian hero declared.  
  
But he was too late. The hunk of frozen water was about to collide with his face. Instinctively, Link grabbed his shield and put it in front of him.  
Cursing in Japanese, Marth bounced around the ground in anger. Link was startled when Mewtwo suddenly appeared.  
"I teleported here," the pokemon explained. He turned towards Marth, still cursing. "You probably don't want to hear what he's has to say."  
"No, I don't" Link decided. "But how did you know I needed you? I thought you said your psychic powers were gone."  
"They are. But I saw you out here with Marth, and I thought that things might get nasty, so I came out here."  
"What do you mean, you thought 'things might get nasty?'" Link asked.  
  
Mewtwo shrugged. "I dunno." Then he was gone.  
Link turned around. Marth was nowhere in sight. Fox and Falco were in the middle of a heated battle, shouting random war cries. Flecks of snow started flying in his direction, and the hero of time decided it was time to go inside.  
"Uh, see you guys later!" he called to his friends who were still fighting furiously. They seemed not to notice, so Link shrugged and left.  
The interior of the castle was bright and cheery, and everyone seemed to be smiling. Then, out of nowhere, several fairies came swooping out at Link. He managed to avoid them by dodging out of the way.  
"Where did they come from?" Link asked aloud.  
"Impa brought them with her," Zelda answered from behind him. "I don't think she was planning on letting them out.I wonder if she meant to."  
  
"I'll go see," Link volunteered. Zelda followed him. 


	36. This explains a lot

The two of them walked into the study, where they found Impa hopping around on the furniture with a cage. "Come on!" she coaxed one fairy. "Come on, into the ca-basket!" Its curiousity piqued, the fairy slowly fluttered into the cage. "AH HAAA HAAA HAA!!" Impa roared triumphantly.  
"Um, Impa?"  
The nursemaid turned abruptly. "Oh, hi guys! Sorry about the whole fairy thing.I didn't mean to let them out. I hired Gannondorf and Captain Falcon to help me though."  
"That's good," said Link, leaving the room. "We were just curious."  
With that taken care of, Zelda and Link started to walk towards the dining room. The sky outside was darkening slightly, and they expected dinner to be starting soon. And, as they had thought, a few smashers were already there and were eating.  
"You know Zelda," said Link, taking a seat. "Lately I've noticed that you have acquired an.um, interesting taste."  
"What does that mean?" Zelda asked, taking a slab of pig gut.  
"That."  
"What, pig guts? Good heavens, I don't eat them. Mewtwo does." She passed it over to Mewtwo, who devoured it quickly.  
"Well maybe not pig guts then," Link decided, buttering a piece of bread.  
"Of course liver is something TOTALLY different." Zelda had begun to eat it, and Link was staring at her.  
"Liver?!" he asked in shock.  
"Yyyeah.is that a problem with you?"  
"No, it's.uh, not."  
"Well, good." Zelda brushed away a loose strand of hair that was getting in the way of the precious liver.  
Link smiled. The princess had always had that habit of brushing her hair back behind her ears, ever since she'd been born (or so Impa told him). When she was nervous, anxious, or just trying to get it out of her way. He began to wonder if Zelda's appetite had always been so strange. How on earth could anyone like chocolate AND liver at the same time?  
"What is it, Link?" Zelda's question made him jump. He had been absent-mindly staring at her. "What are.you doing?"  
"Oh! Um, sorry princess. I don't know what."  
"It's okay," she said, turning back to the liver. "Oh Ness, would you please pass me that soy sauce?" He handed it to her, and she started drizzling the sauce onto her liver.  
"Now I've seen everything," said Link, rolling his eyes. "Pickle juice on caviar, soy sauce on liver.is there anything you won't eat, Princess?"  
"Yes. Sea food or pig guts."  
"Does that mean you'd eat.like, cat guts?"  
"What, you mean you've never tried them before? Oh, they are SO good in spaghetti sauce! And so useful too, you know they use them to make strings on violins and tennis rackets. And-Link?"  
His mouth was dropped and he was gawking at her with surprise. Then he fell to the floor in hysterical laughter.  
"Oh yes, I simply MUST try eating cat gut some time!" he laughed, getting to his chair once more with Zelda's help.  
"You needn't be so satirical about it!" she cried, though she was laughing as well. Actually, guffawing would be a better choice of words.  
It was at that time that the two of them realized everyone was staring at them. They chuckled nervously, and sat down trying to look dignified. Eventually, everyone turned back to their own dinners and conversations.  
"What time is it, Young Link?" Summer asked.  
"Almost seven thirty. Why?"  
"Oh!" exclaimed Summer, getting up from the table. "I've got to go!"  
"Where exactly are you going?" Zelda asked.  
"Titanic is on in a few minutes!" Summer answered.  
Zelda got up from the table and started to follow her cousin. "You're not watching that unless I'm there to edit it for you! Bye Link."  
"Bye Zel," said Link in a wistful tone.  
"Oh-a geez," Mario sighed with exasperation. "Every time-a she leaves, you act-a as though you will-a never-a see her again."  
Link laughed a little. "Sorry Mario, I didn't mean to annoy you. Was I?"  
"It's not-a a problem, Link." 


	37. Kate Winslet and the Elvis Impersonators

"Look, Jack!" Rose exclaimed on TV. "I'm flying!"  
Summer rolled her eyes. "Oh, please," she groaned. "This has got to be the lamest love dialogue I have ever heard."  
Zelda laughed. "You'll appreciate it more if you see it when you're older," she stated wisely. She found it annoying and yet funny how Summer mocked her favorite scene.  
"I mean really. Even YOU could come up with something better than that."  
"Hey!" Zelda picked up a pillow and hit Summer on the head with it. "My love phrases are extremely poetic and romantic. Shakespeare himself couldn't do better than me!"  
"I'll bet," said Summer, rolling her eyes. "Can we have some popcorn?"  
"Sure," said Zelda, getting up out of bed. She went into the kitchen and opened the cabinet. "It appears that we're all out." Zelda went to her closet and got a jacket. She slipped it over her famous Hello Kitty nightgown. "I'll be right back. I'll go get another box from the pantry."  
By that time, all of the other smashers had left the dining room and were off doing other stuff. Zelda approached the pantry door and tried to open it. She could not. She yanked on the door knob. It wasn't locked, because there wasn't a key hole. What was up?  
As she pondered about this, she let go of the knob. At that exact moment, the door burst open, and sent her flying to the ground.  
"Oh! Sorry, princess!"  
Zelda sat up, and found herself staring at Link. He reached out a hand. Blushing faintly, she took it and he helped her to stand up.  
"Um, thanks. What happened?"  
Young Link was laughing. "We just went in there to get some popcorn and tried to leave. I guess that you were trying to get at the same time we were trying to get out."  
"And then I let go of the doorknob and you two probably shoved against the door and made me fall," Zelda concluded.  
"Yeah," Link laughed. "Oh Mini-me, I think Popo is calling you."  
The two ice climbers were motioning over to Young Link. "What is it?" the not older Link called to them.  
"Bowser just accidentally ate four Poision Mushrooms!" Popo shouted.  
"He did?" Young Link laughed. "That's hilarious!"  
The three of them dashed off, talking about how the koopa was skiing down Gannondorf's nose.  
"Those mushrooms frighten me," said Zelda, walking into the pantry. "I can never tell if it's a giant or a poison one."  
"It's easy," said Link, stepping up next to her. "I just.don't know how to explain the difference to you."  
"Right," Zelda giggled.  
Link's grin twitched. He hated it when girls giggled like that. It made him feel like they knew something he didn't. In spite of what he wanted, a chill ran up his spine.  
Zelda picked up a box of popcorn. "Well, I've got to be getting back to Summer," she said in a slightly reluctant voice.  
"Titanic, right?" asked Link, following her out of the pantry. Zelda nodded. "What part are you up to?"  
"Oh that part where Rose is like 'look Jack, I'm flying!'" she laughed. "Summer was thinking how dumb and annoying it was. But it's really my favorite part of the whole movie, I think."  
"Well, when I first saw it I thought it was kind of corny too," said Link, as they started nearing Zelda's room. They stopped before going in.  
"Well, uh.good-night Link."  
Zelda twisted the door knob. It wouldn't open. "Oh, I don't have a key." she whispered. "Summer?" she knocked on the door. "Summer, I've been locked out. Could you open the door please?"  
They heard footsteps. There was the sound of a hand clasping a door knob, and then stopping.  
"Summer, come on, let me in!" Zelda pleaded. "It's freezing out here!"  
"Do you have the popcorn Zellie?" Summer asked from inside the room.  
"Yes! Let me in, will you?"  
"Okay I'll just-oh wait! It's my favorite Geico commercial! Be there in a sec Zelda!"  
Zelda rolled her eyes and Link turned towards her. "Well.good-night princess. See you tomorrow I guess."  
The princess giggled again, making Link blush. "I'm sorry Link.I'm not really laughing at-" she laughed-"you. Well actually, I kind of am, sorry. Just why do have to be so formal all the time?"  
"What're you talking about Zel?"  
"That's better. You know I'm so annoyed when people insist on using royal titles for everything.  
"I'm sorry, princess."  
"There you go again!" she laughed, hugging him. "I guess it's just natural of you to be so courteous."  
Link grinned and started to lean towards the prin-Zelda. Suddenly, there came a high pitched scream from within the room.  
Zelda banged on the door. "Summer? Summer! What is it?!"  
"Zelda! Zelda, please help me! Shield my virgin eyes!!"  
Zelda turned towards Link. "Do you think she got to the drawing scene?" Link asked nervously.  
Summer's responded immediately. "It's that really freaky McDonald's ad with the Elvis kid impersonators! AAAAIIIEEE!!!" Finally, the door opened, and Zelda stepped inside. Summer buried her tear-streaked face into her skirt. "Oh, it was horrible!" she sobbed. "HORRIBLE!"  
Zelda awkwardly put her arms around Summer. "It's allright sweetheart," she comforted. "It was just a couple of kids wearing frightening costumes and being paid millions of dollars to make idiots of themselves."  
"And now, back to tonights feature presentation: Titanic!" came a voice from the TV in Summer's bedroom.  
Her tears immediately vanished. "Movie's back. Make the popcorn Zellie!"  
Smiling, Zelda watched her younger cousin skip into the bedroom. Leaning in the doorway, she had forgotten Link was still standing there. "Oh! Heh.well, good-night Link."  
After a slight hesitation, Link leaned forward to kiss the princess (it's okay if I say 'princess,' because I'm talking general). The kiss swept through her, and she almost fainted. Link gave her a smile and walked off.  
Sighing with satisfaction, Zelda stumbled through the now open doorway. She snapped back to reality when she saw Summer standing there smiling.  
"Oh please," Summer laughed. "If you can make up good romantic sayings, I've yet to hear them. Same with Link."  
Zelda put a bag of popcorn into the microwave and started it. "What's that supposed to mean?" she asked, walking back to her cousin's bedroom.  
"I was watching you from my room," Summer confessed.  
"You little sneak!" Zelda laughed, tickling Summer.  
"Stop! Stop!" Summer squealed, choking with laughter.  
The night eventually ended wonderfully for them both. Need I say more? 


	38. The Prince and the Pauper

"Okay, Lombardi," Fox growled the next day. "You. Me. We both have a battle this afternoon at 3:30. Ready to battle it out?"  
"Yes. But wait a sec, what if we're on each other's team?" Falco asked.  
"We had so better not! I need to show the world that I can kill you."  
  
"C'mon, let's go try and find who we're playing with."  
Link walked up to them. "Hi guys," he greeted. "I'm on my way to the gym. I've got a game at 3:30."  
"So do we!" Fox and Falco said simoultaneously.  
"As do I," said Marth from behind them. "And may I say, Link, I'd watch myself if I were you.if I'm against you, that is." He gave Link an icy glare.  
"You underestimate me Marth," Link spat. "I am Hyrule's hero, and I do not go down easily. I didn't earn that title by doing nothing."  
"Title?!" Marth asked incredulously. He laughed. "You'll never amount to anything, you little peasant! I am a prince! You're like scum to me! I could have you beheaded for talking back to Altea's heir!"  
"Marth! You be shut up about Link's status!"  
Both swordsmen turned abruptly to see Zelda walking up to them. She had a deep fire in her eyes.  
"Oh, Zelda!" said Marth, sheathing his sword which his hand had been on.  
"Don't you call me 'Zelda!'" she barked. "I don't care if you're royal too, I still expect to be treated with respect by everyone and anyone."  
"Forgive me, Princess," Marth said. "If I have offended you."  
"That's okay. C'mon Link, let's go to the gym."  
"Sure thing Zel."  
"A-hem?" Marth said, raising his eyebrows at Zelda.  
"What? Oh, it's all right for Link to call me by name. I don't mind. Father says that.suitors don't have to be formal."  
Trying their best not to laugh at Marth's confused expression, Zelda and Link walked in direction of the gym arm in arm.  
"Suitor?" Hyrule's hero asked (hopefully).  
"Well, not really," said Zelda. "Not to disappoint you or anything. I just had to say something to get him off my back. He and Roy can get so annoying! And yet lately, Marth's been doing more of the courting than Roy."  
Link nodded. "I've got a battle with him today."  
"Really? With him, or against?"  
"I don't know. I guess I'll have to wait and find out at 3:30."  
"Half-past three?" Zelda asked, taking out her own schedule. "I've got a game at five. I'll be cheering for you." Giving his cheek a kiss, she skipped off to the girls' locker room. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"You nervous, Link?" asked Fox, putting on his blue outfit.  
"Not a smidge," Link answered truthfully. As it turned out, he and Fox were playing against Marth and Falco (green) at Big Blue. "Just.can I take Marth and you take Falco?"  
"No problem bro!" said Fox, cracking his knuckles. "I can't wait to murder Falco on television! Bwa ha, revenge will be sweet!"  
"Why, did you lose the snowball fight last night?"  
"SHH! That brings back painful memories."  
  
"3.2.1.HIKE!!" shouted Master hand. The crowd looked at him, annoyed. "Fine. GO!!"  
The battle at Big Blue began immediately. Fox leapt on top of Falco.  
"You're gonna pay for last night, you yellow-bellied SAPSUCKER!!!"  
"HOW DARE YOU!! I'm a falcon!"  
"No you're not," shouted Captain Falcon from the trench. "I'm Falcon."  
"Oh, shut up," said Samus, slapping his forehead.  
Between Marth and Link, things were much more aggressive. Swords were clashing wildly.  
"So why were you so excited to battle me, Marth?" Link asked, beating his sword on his opponent.  
"Because," said Marth, putting up his shield to block the blow. "Zelda needs to see how bad her 'hero' is compared to me, the prince of her dreams."  
"You are so lame, Marth!" Link shouted, wiping his brow.  
"Excuse me," said the prince. "I expect to be treated with respect, and addressed by my royal title."  
"Whatever you say, PRINCE Marth," Link snorted. He took out a bomb and tossed in his rival's face.  
Marth, who had just turned around to pick up a box behind him, didn't have time to duck. The bomb hit him full in the back of the head.  
  
Summer, Impa, and King Harkinian cheered crazily in the crowd. Link smirked and ran around Marth. The Altean prince was clutching his head in agony.  
Link picked up the jackhammer that had fallen out of the box Marth had picked up. "Oh, your highness? Don't look up."  
Immediately, Marth lifted his head and gasped. Trying to get up, he tripped over his cape. Link hit him with the hammer, and sent him flying away.  
"Nice one Link!" Fox cheered, as Falco crept up behind him with a star wand. He applauded, and then got mercilessly clobbered.  
Link did his taunt in front of a camera.  
Zelda almost fainted. "Oh, he's a dream!" she sighed, fanning herself.  
Peach rolled her eyes. "Honestly, Zelda. Get a grip of yourself. The boy is a peasant. You are a princess!"  
Zelda laughed. "Then why on earth were you so keen to get him to like you so much last year?" she asked.  
"Hypocrite," Samus coughed. Peach glared at her, and remained silent.  
  
Eventually, Marth came back to the battlefield. Link, earnest to avoid him, jumped onto a separate car.  
"I see you're afraid of me, Link!" Marth shouted.  
"No I'm not!" Link retorted. "Only you're invincible for a few seconds after you come down, remember?"  
Marth rolled his eyes, and jumped onto Link's car. Swords clashed once more. But even now that Marth wasn't invincible, Link still did not fear him.  
"I don't mean to disappoint you," Link yelled. "But Zelda doesn't care as much about sword skills or status as she does about personality!"  
"So?! I've got a great personality!" Marth shouted, ducking another bomb.  
"NO YOU DON'T, YOU POOPHEAD!!" Impa shouted from the stands.  
"Okay, who said that?" Marth asked, swiveling around. Link took his enemy's distraction to his advantage. He picked up a party ball and threw it at Marth's back.  
"You've gotta stop doing that!" Link laughed, looking to find what he'd received from the ball.  
"Well this time, I benefited!" Marth hollered, wielding a beam sword. "Link, I'm NOT YOUR FATHER!!"  
".....what?"  
"You know.this kinda looks like Darth Vadar's sword." Marth began, trailing off. Link rolled his eyes. "Heads up, Link!"  
Meanwhile, Fox and Falco were below them. "THIS IS FOR THE TIME THAT YOU TOOK THE LAST COOKIE!!" Fox shouted, throwing a pokeball at his fellow pilot.  
"Hey, it was raisin!" Falco defended, ducking the ball. "You don't even LIKE raisin!"  
"Oh yeah," Fox recalled. "But too late. I already threw the pokeball." Onix emerged from it.  
"ACK!" Falco screamed. He threw his arms over his head, as the giant rock stony snake moved upwards. Instinctively, he put on his shield.  
Link and Marth's gaze drifted up towards the pokemon. "Whose is that?!" the both asked worriedly.  
"Mine!" Fox answered. "Not to worry Link!"  
Marth also put on his shield, as the rocks began pouring down. Link stood by calmly, grinning at Marth's discomfort. His shield was getting smaller and smaller. It was only a matter of time until it would be gone.  
As soon as the prince's screen had ebbed away completely, Link picked him up and held him in a strong grip. "Bye bye, highness!" he said, grinning. With immense strength, he jumped onto the next car (still bearing the shrieking Marth), and threw him with all his might off the side. It worked, and Marth had only one life left.  
Link was relieved, and he had two of his three lives left. And yet he highly doubted that he'd have two for long, because he had 204% damage.  
Falco and Fox seemed to have decided to have some sort of a shoot- out. They each pulled out their guns.  
"Okay, here's the drill," said Fox. "We turn around, and we each take ten paces. Understand?" Falco nodded. "Let's go. Ten.nine.eight.seven."  
Determined to win the duel, Falco had failed to realize that he was about to walk off the platform. After six paces, Fox whipped around, and shot three times. Falco was sent flying away.  
"FALCO DEFEATED!!" Master Hand shouted.  
Link threw a barrel at Marth. He caught it, and threw it back. Link prepared to catch it, but it exploded in his face. He was sent sailing away. Marth was keeled over, laughing.  
Zelda winced. "Oh, that's gotta hurt!" she exclaimed.  
"He'll feel that tomorrow," Samus commented, nodding.  
I can't tell you how much Marth would have loved to hear Master Hand say that Link had been defeated. Unfortunately for him, the hero of time still had one life remaining.  
Of course now, Marth was all alone against the blue team. Link grinned at him. "Come on, Marth," he said. "Show me your moves!"  
"Hey, that's my line!" Captain Falcon shouted.  
"You idiot!" Samus sighed, slapping his forehead again. "He's quoting you! You should be honored!"  
"Oh. GO LINK! IT'S YOUR BIRTHDAY!! NOT REALLY, PARTY-"  
Samus smacked his head.  
Fox jumped up onto the same car as Marth and Link. "Hiya, Marth!" the little fox bellowed.  
Marth turned and whacked Fox's head with his shield. McCloud was sent whirling down. "I don't go down that easily! HIYA!!" Using his up attack move, Fox burst upwards, encircled by fire. He flew ino Marth, who was hit by a full blast of the flame. He was sent twirling towards Link, who mercilessly shot an arrow at him. "Please, Link!" Marth begged. "I need to win this battle!" "Why in Hyrule should I let you win?" Link asked, picking up his rival. "I need to be able to gain Zelda's respect! And if I lose, my father will ground me again!" Link stared at him, and his eyes softened. "Sorry." Giving him a swift kick, Hyrule's hero threw Marth to his right. "MARTH DEAFTED!.GAME!! THIS GAME'S WINNER IS BLUE!!" The stands cheered with Link and Fox fans, while those who liked Marth and Falco booed. 


	39. Boring Battle

Fox, Marth, and Link were transported down to the trenches. Dr. Mario whizzed up to the Altean prince and pushed him onto a stretcher. "I will-a be right-a back for-a you-a two!" the doctor shouted. Zelda ran up to Link and embraced him. "Oh, I knew you could do it!" she cried. "Ever since Marth's downfall against Jigglypuff and Pichu, anyone with brains could figure out that you could certainly beat him!" "Well, I think Marth would be harder to beat if I had to fight against him and Roy at the same time. When they're together, it's really tough to outdo them." "Wow, great job, old me!" Young Link congratulated. "Gee, I can't wait till I can battle against that Altean dumbbell!" "Hey hey," Peach scolded lightly. "There will be no insulting any of the other smashers in this tournament." Zelda rolled her eyes, making Peach decide to continue. "At least not in front of me. By the way Zel, when's your game today?" "Five. Why, when's yours?" "I'm playing at five o'clock too! COOL!" The two princess held hands and danced around in circles. As Fox got carried away, Link stared at them. "Okey-dokey." "But wait!" Peach shouted, stopping abruptly. "What if-what if we're.on SEPARATE TEAMS!?!" "That would totally suck dude," Zelda commented. "Well, I guess we'll just have to wait until the battle begins." Dr. Mario came back again, and put Link on a stretcher. Peach and Zelda both pecked his cheek (different ones). "Hey, back off will you?" Peach asked, shoving Zelda. "What's that supposed to mean?" she asked, shoving Peach back. "Precisley what I said!" Peach replied, pushing her again. "I'm trying to watch this battle, and I can't see!" ".oh."  
  
The battle Peach was trying to watch was between Samus and Kirby (Red) and Gannondorf and Bowser (green). "Those teams are unfair," Zelda declared. "I mean, it's obvious that team red has the advantage!" "Hey, are you insulting my enemy's moves?" Peach inquired. "Not really, it's just that Samus and Kirby are both really good."  
  
I'm not going to lie to you and say that the following battle was exciting and cool as most battles go. It was the most boring, mind-numbing, dull and dreary fight that ever took place. I doubt that they even televised it.  
  
"Impa, it's not over yet," said Summer, nudging the sleeping nursemaid. ".wha?" Impa groaned, still half-asleep. After the first forty seconds, both Bowser and Kirby had already died. As soon as Master Hand said "GO!", Kirby swallowed the Koopa guy and jumped off the ship at Rainbow cruise. After they came back to life, the wad of bubblegum consumed Bowser again, this time standing completely still. The screen moved on, making them both crash to the left. The final time, Kirby ingested Bowser and jumped down. Bowser, inside of the bubble gum, screamed with rage. True, Kirby had committed suicide, but also had defeated Bowser. Gannondorf was so lousy at keeping up with the screen, that his first two lives were wasted trying to get his jumps right. "TAKE THIS, GANNONDORK!" Samus shouted, throwing a box at him. It opened in his face, and out came bunny ears. He put them on. "Oh, I look so fashionable!" he shouted, doing his taunt. "Now the screen is no match for me and my BUNNY RABBIT EARS!! BWA HA HA HA!!" With super speed, he pursued Samus. "Aw man," she moaned. "I hate it when he gets the bunny ears!" Then, out of the blue, she got a spectacular idea. "I know how to get my revenge!" Samus stopped abruptly and turned around. "What are you doing?" Gannondorf laughed. Samus took a deep breath, and started to sing in her best Barbara Streisand voice. "Helloooo, Louie. Helloooo, Louie!" Ganon came to a halt immediately. "NO!" he screamed. "NO, THAT'S NOT FAIR!! ILLEGAL USE OF VOICE!!" As Samus continued to sing, his damage started skyrocketing. "Wow!" Peach exclaimed. "Finally, something interesting!" Samus laughed the final note, as the blocks underneath her opponent gave way, and he was sent wailing to the bottom of the field. "GANNONDORF DEFEATED!.GAME!" Master hand boomed. 


	40. Killing Time

"Finally, that battle is over!" Zelda cheered, clapping wildly. Samus appeared behind her. "Great job, Sam!" "Thanks," Samus said. "Geez, that battle was too easy. I'll bet ol' Ganon is going to be pretty ashamed of himself for a while!" "Zelda," Peach interrupted. "Our battle is supposed to be next, but its only half past four!" "You're right," Master Hand agreed. "I'll ask the audience." "Ask them what?" Zelda asked, as he went sailing away. "LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!!" Master hand roared. "WE HAPPEN TO HAVE AN EXTRA HALF HOUR ON OUR HANDS, SO WE HAVE TWO OPTIONS!! WE CAN INTERVIEW BARBARA STREISAND" (the crowd booed) "OR WE CAN INTERVIEW TWO OF THE NEXT BATTLE'S CONTESTANTS, PRINCESS PEACH AND PRINCESS ZELDA!!" The crowd cheered. Apparently, they were all for the last option. "What?!" Peach and Zelda yelled in unison. Suddenly, they were both transported to the stadium, into to two chairs next to Master hand. "Go on," Master hand urged. "Say something." "Um.hi," Zelda said slowly. The crowd erupted. "Okay.speeches today sure are easy to make." "Master hand," Peach started. "How on earth could you possibly plan an entire interview with only a half an hour?" "I dunno," Master hand answered. "Are you perhaps suggesting that we do something else, Princess?" Peach shrugged. "I dunno. How about you, Zel?" "I dunno. Master hand?" "Hey, we can't just spend thirty minutes saying 'I dunno.' That would just be stupid." All of a sudden, Peach got up and kicked the legs of Zelda's chair. With an "oomph!" the Hylian princess fell back. "Peach, what on earth was that for?" Zelda asked, rubbing her back. "I don't know. We have to do something," Peach said. She smiled and winked. Zelda grinned back. "Okay. If that's how you're going to play." she said. Zelda sprang up and grabbed Peach's wrist. "Take this, you poophead!" In a whisper that only she and Peach could hear, Zelda counted to three. The Mushroom Kingdom princess flipped in the air, as Hyrule's princess twisted her arm. It looked like Zelda had spun Peach around, when in reality, Peach flipped herself. "OHHH!" Peach cried in false agony. "HOW RUDE!!" She got to her feet, and the two princesses circled each other, jabbing the air with their fists. Then suddenly, Peach erupted: "WWF! WWF! STEEEEEEEEEVE AUSTIN!! WWF! WWF! STEEEEVE AUSTIN!! STEEEEEVE AUSTIN! STEEEVE-" Trying hard to suppress a laugh, Zelda brought her fist over Peach's head and whacked her. At least, that's what it looked like. Instead, Zelda stopped her clenched hand millmeters from Peach's head. The toadstool princess fell to the ground and did not get up. "Hey, that's no fair!" Master hand complained, though also trying not to laugh. "You're battle's not going to begin for a little while." "Speaking of which," Zelda interjected. "Why don't you bring up who will be fighting this one with us?" She brushed away a loose strand of hair and helped Peach to stand up. Luigi and Dr. Mario appeared out of nowhere. "These are the teams," Master hand announced. "Blue-Luigi and Zelda. Yellow-Peach and Dr. Mario!!" The four smashers were transported back to the trenches to change. "Good luck, Zellie," Peach said, putting on a brown wig. "Good luck to you, Peachie," Zelda responded. "But you don't even stand a chance, sister!" The two of them shook hands, and stepped back out to the trenches. 


	41. Book Conversations and a False Date

"Oh joy!" Peach exclaimed. "It's taking place at my castle!" "Lucky duck," Zelda muttered. "3.2.1.GO!!" shouted you-know-who (not Voldemort). Luigi leapt on top of Dr. Mario. "Take-a this, you stupid-a doctor!" he cried loudly, shooting a green fireball at him. "You-a need-a prescription for-a some crazy-a pills!" the doc shouted, tossing a pill in Luigi's direction. While this battle was going on, Peach and Zelda were sitting calmly on the other side of the castle. Peach was sipping a cup of tea. "Oh, did you read Holes, by Louis Sachar?" Zelda asked, adding some sugar cubes to her own tea. "Of course, dahling," Peach answered. "But the best books on the planet are of course Harry Potter." "Duh!" Zelda laughed. "The fourth was definitely the best though." "I know!" Peach agreed. "And yet I hated the second one." "I agree!" Zelda.agreed. "I don't know why. I just don't like it as much as the others. Oh, you know Gail Carson Lavine? Did you-" The cameras, which had been paying more attention to the furious fight between Dr. Mario and Luigi, now zoomed in on Peach and Zelda. Just as they started talking about Ella Enchanted, they realized it. Blushing, they hid the tea cups and smiled sheepishly. Then, letting out a roar, Zelda spun around, doing Nayru's love. Peach thrust out Toad, and it hit him instead of her. "Sorry Zellie, do try again!" she yelled. Peach plucked a vegetable from the ground, and threw it at Zelda. Zelda however, did Nayru's love again and reflected the veggie back to Peach. It caught her in the chin, and she was sent soaring backwards. The camera dudes made sure to show it in slow-mo three times. "Ouch! I do declare!" Peach.declared. "That hurt!" She wriggled her jaw. "That one's not gonna go unnoticed!" She swung a frying pan out of nowhere.  
  
Zelda whipped out her shield, and the pan bounced off her. "Curse you, Zelda!" Peach shrieked. "Oh, that reminds me-did you ever read The Two Princesses of Bamarre?" "Of course I did," Zelda responded, throwing a bottle at Peach. "It was so good!" From the bottle emerged a star wand. "BWA HA HA!!" the Hylian princess roared triumphantly. "Your golf clubs, frying pans, and tennis rackets are NO MATCH for me and my miraculous star wand!! Nyeh heh heh heh!!!" She raised the weapon above her head and prepared to make Peach see stars (literally). At that moment, Dr. Mario came flying out of nowhere, screaming. As he went zooming past Zelda, he plucked the star wand out of her hand. "I'll take-a that!" he said, then continued screaming. He flew off the edge. "Aw, man!" Zelda groaned, turning and watching Dr. Mario fly away. Then she collapsed to the ground. "Maybe my tennis racket isn't so bad!" Peach shouted, getting ready to strike again. "May I remind you Zelda, you've only got two lives left!" "So do you," Zelda whispered, standing up. "YAH!" Pushing her arm forward, the princess shot a firey ball towards Peach. She yelped, and leapt back. Zelda turned around and picked up a box that was behind her. She threw it at Peach. To her shock, it exploded in her opponent's face. "NOOOOO!" Peach wailed, flying away. One life left. Zelda was still standing there with her arms raised, stunned by her fortune. Just then, Peach came soaring out of nowhere, and threw a barrel down with all her might at Zelda. After the dust cleared, Zelda appeared to have vanished. "I SHRUNK!" she squealed. Peach looked down and laughed. "It's not funny!" Zelda shouted. "I can never tell the difference between those dumb mushrooms!" "Not a problem to me!" Peach laughed. The two princesses looked up as a tiny ding was heard. A jackhammer fell out of the sky and landed on the top of the tower in the castle. "That's mine!" Peach claimed, running for it. Zelda immediately transformed into Sheik, and dashed in front of the slower princess whose name is the same as a fruit. "EAT MY MICROSCOPIC DUST, PEACH!!"Sheik squeaked, jumping higher and higher. Then to her pleasure, she returned to her normal size. Seizing the jack hammer, Zelda swung around, and hit Peach. "NNNOOOOO!!!" Once more, the Mushroom Kingdom princess was sent whirling away. "PEACH DEFEATED!!" Master hand shouted. The crowd cheered. Zelda did her taunt. The crowd cheered wildly. She grinned. Seconds later, she heard Master Hand yell, "DR. MARIO DEFEATED!.GAME! THIS GAME'S WINNER IS.BLUE!!!" Luigi did his taunt as well, and the two of them were moved back to the trenches by the battlefield. "Great job, Peach!" said Zelda, offering a hand. "Sorry, I'm a sore loser," Peach croaked, rubbing her two black eyes. Four nurses came rushing out with some stretchers, and carried the four of them away. "It's so ironic," one of them said. "How the doctor always ends up getting wounded the most." "Is that-a my fault?" Dr. Mario asked. "Besides, I had-a almost-a no energy left-a to fight!" "What's that supposed to mean?" a nurse asked, rounding a corner. "I-a worked extra time-a to heal-a Marth!" Dr. Mario answered. "Why'd you do that?!" Zelda cried. "I thought-a you would-a know!" Dr. Mario responded. "He-a said that he had- a to get-a better quicker than-a Fox and-a Link, because of-a your date-a that is-a later tonight!" Zelda sat up immediately. "He said what?!" she shouted. "He said-a that-" "I heard you," Zelda butt in. "But we are so NOT going on a date tonight!!! How dare he lie like that to you! Where did he go?!" "He said-a he was-a going to-a his-a room." "Nurse, stop this stretcher NOW!" Zelda shouted. "But princess, you must be healed!" the nurse objected. "Exactly!" Zelda said, jumping off of the moving stretcher. "I am a princess and when I tell you to stop, I expect you to stop!" She dashed off, leaving as stunned nurse behind her. "Don't-a mind her," Dr. Mario sighed. "She has-a done this before." 


	42. Disappointed

"Impa! Impa, where are you!" Zelda called, running through the hallways. "Here I am, child!" Impa replied, walking up to her. Summer and King Harkinian were behind her. "Wow, Zelda!" Summer shouted, hugging her cousin around the middle. "That was great!" "Zelda! Your shoulder!" King Harkinian cried, goggle-eyed. "It's bleeding! Didn't you go to the hospital yet?" He stared at her arm and glove, which was once more stained with blood. "No," Zelda answered. "I'm fine. But Dr. Mario told me something I found very interesting." "What is it?" Impa asked curiously. "He said that Marth told that he and I have A DATE TONIGHT!!!" Zelda roared, throwing her arms up. "Ooh, I love it when you're angry!" Zelda whipped around, and saw Marth approaching her with a man she didn't know. Judging by the robe, crown, and teal hair, Zelda could only imagine that he was Marth's father. "Princess, please allow me to introduce my father," Marth began. "King Jaraad of Altea." King Harkinian smiled. "Actually Zelda, I arranged this thing tonight that Prince Marth is speaking about. It's so you and Marth can get to know each other better, and so King Jaraad and I can discuss some political issues." "Oh goody," said Zelda, rolling her eyes. "Forgive me for not leaping for joy." She gestured behind her. "Bad back, you know." She glanced at Impa. "Oh yes Princess," Impa said, curtsying slightly. "Let's go to my room and I'll help you." With Summer behind them, Zelda and Impa walked slowly away. "Don't worry Marth," said King Harkinian, smiling broadly. "I'm quite sure that Zelda is very excited about tonight."  
  
"Impa! I am so NOT excited about tonight!" Zelda cried, burying her face into a pillow. "There there love," Impa whispered sweetly, stroking Zelda's back. "It's just one night. You'll survive." "No I won't!" Zelda sniffed. "You don't know Marth like I do! He's simply dreadful! I couldn't possibly spend an entire night at a restaurant with him alone!" "But you won't be alone," Impa pointed out. "Both your fathers will be there with you." "I guess you're right," Zelda sighed. She turned on the sink, and stuck her head under it. "Aah, that feels much better. Thanks Impa, I think I'll go back to my room now. You coming, Summer?" "I'll stay here," her cousin answered, as Zelda walked out of the room. In her own room, Peach was pacing up and down the floor, smiling. Dr. Mario had been willing to use magic to cure them all, since he had no battles for a another few days. She was grinning to herself. It had all worked out perfectly for her. King Harkinian had arranged the meeting between him, Zelda, and the Alteans. Peach hadn't even made the suggestion, but he did it anyway! With Zelda gone, it meant that Link would be totally free for probably the late afternoon and into the evening. Peach wasn't entirely sure how long they'd be gone, but that didn't matter. And, so people wouldn't suspect too much, Peach decided she'd spend her time with Link around the other smashers, and hope that they just thought of them as friends. She threw back her head and laughed horribly.  
  
Zelda picked up the phone. "Hello?" "Zelda? This is your father." "Oh, hi dad." Then she remembered what was happening tonight. "Dad, why on earth did you have to schedule this thing without consulting me?!" "What, you mean the thing with Marth and King Jaraad?" "Yes! Don't you know how much I hate Marth?!" "Actually, I didn't. I thought you liked him. Earlier today when Link threw him off the edge, you almost fainted from grief." "THAT WASN'T FROM GRIEF!!" Zelda yelled into the receiver, leaping to her feet. "I was talking.about." she sat down again. "I was telling Peach and Samus how much I liked Link." "Well why on earth didn't you say something? I mean I know you, like, kissed him at that dance thing, but I didn't know it was anything serious."  
  
"Oh dad, do I HAVE to go to this thing tonight?" "Yes." "But daaaad, why??" "Because I said so. I think Marth deserves to have you give him a chance." "GIVE HIM A CHANCE?!" Zelda shouted. "He's been at it for almost over a year!! I don't like him at all, dad! I despise and detest him!! I'd rather go to McDonald's with Gannondorf than to a diner with him!!" "Well I'm sorry Zelda, but I can't fix that now. I've already made the deal. Looks like your night is booked." "But dad, I-" Before Zelda could complain anymore, her father hung up. With a grunt of annoyance, she threw the phone back on its cradle. Then a smile came over her face as she got an idea to get back at her father. A knock came at the door. "Who is it?" she asked. "It's me, Link," came a voice. Relieved, the hylian princess skipped over to the door and opened it. "Hi, Link. Goddesses, am I glad to see you." He walked in. "Why, what's up? Oh by the way, I saw your battle in the hospital wing." "You did?" Zelda asked, sitting down on the couch. "How?" "Dr. Mario insisted that the nurses installed a tv in the hospital so that he could watch the battles." "What a hog." "And what was up with the tea?" "Wha?.oh, that. Nothing, it's just that Peach and I like to have. book conversations every once and a while." "Book conversations?" "Yes. Problem?" "No.but anyway Zel, I came hear to ask if you-" He was interrupted by the telephone. Zelda reached over and picked it up. "Hello? NO, I already told you that. Besides, I'm-he is?! Oh.fine. Yes. Don't freak. Good bye." She sighed and hung up. "Who was that?" Link asked. "It was Marth. Look, I don't know what you came here to ask me, but if it has anything to do with tonight, I can't do it." "Why not?" Zelda sighed again. "My father is making me come with him to this dinner thing with him, Marth and King Jaraad of Altea." "Jaraad?" Link repeated, smirking. Zelda smiled. "I know. It is a dumb name, isn't it? Ah well, so much for that. I need to be getting ready soon." "Okay," said Link, getting up. "See you tomorrow, Princess." He kissed her cheek softly. "Bye." 


	43. Appointed Date

"Impa?" said King Harkinian. "Yes, highness?" "I'll be asking you to keep an eye on Summer for me this evening. As you know, I'm taking Zelda with me to a dinner at The Fancy Place Restaurant." "The Fancy Place?" Impa asked. "I don't think Zelda will like that." "What in Altea is that supposed to mean?" King Jaraad asked. "She likes going places where it's okay to dress casually." "Nonsense," Marth responded. "She's a princess." "Oh? Well, don't say I didn't warn ya. Turn around, highnesses." The royal people did turn around, and what they saw made them almost faint from shock. Zelda walked up to them, but not at ALL wearing her normal apparel. Firstly, her hair was pulled back in a loose ponytail, and she was wearing a Yankees cap backwards. She went over and stood next to Marth, who noticed her shirt read "I'm with Stupid." Zelda also had on black gloves that she had cut off at her knuckles. Her pants were blue with flares, and she wore a pair of adidas sneakers on her feet. "Hi, dad!" she greeted. She punched him on the shoulder. "Whazzup?!?!" "Zelda!" King Harkinian barked, enraged. "Go on back to your room and DRESS PROPERLY!!" "What, don't you dig this outfit?" Zelda asked, pretending to be perplexed.  
  
"NO! GO BACK NOW!!" "Geez, fine. Calm down, bub." "DAD!" "Fine, DAD." Zelda turned around and stalked back to her room. "I'm sorry, usually she's nothing like this," her father apologized. "It's all right," said King Jaraad. "We all have our.strange days." Impa and Summer sniggered. Fifteen minutes later, Zelda came waltzing back down the stairway. King Harkinian smiled with relief. She now wore a sleeve-less ankle length lavender gown (and amythest earrings to match). Her hair was pulled back in a fancy bun, and she donned elegant elbow-long violet gloves. Impa walked up to her and took off a necklace she was wearing. The nurse maid put the amythest chain around Zelda's neck and smiled. "With an outfit like that, I would've expected purple lipstick!" King Jaraad laughed. Zelda smiled from politeness. Her lips were their natural crimson color. "I've always found purple an attractive color on you," whispered King Harkinian as they stepped outside the castle doors. "Just like your mother." "Yes I know," Zelda said in response. Then quickly she added, "I mean that mother looked good in purple." "You're too modest," the man who'd been married to her mother laughed. "Give yourself a little credit for once." "Okay," Zelda said. She twirled around. "Don't you think I look simply ravishing in purple, father?" she asked. "Riveting," King Harkinian said, laughing again.  
  
"Gooood evening!" a server welcomed warmly. "My name's Apmi, and I will be your server tonight!" Smiling broadly, she led the four of them over to a table. "I'll be right back!" Apmi dropped down some menus, and skipped off.  
  
"Well, she seems nice," said King Harkinian, taking a seat by Marth's dad. "Yeah," Zelda agreed. She inched over slightly, as Marth sat down a liiiitle too close. And yet there had been something familiar about that waitress. Then she noticed that her father was giving her the evil eye. She stopped moving away from Marth, and smiled her best.  
  
"That was a splendid battle you fought today," Marth complimented. "I was watching you while I was in the hospital."  
"Yes, that's what I-I-I'll be right back!" Zelda jumped out of her chair and into the bathroom. Marth found this to be quite odd, as you probably do. She had seen a hand sticking out from behind a cabinet. Then she looked up and saw Apmi motioning to her from the bathroom.  
"Quickly Zelda, in here!" the waitress beckoned.  
"How did you know my-Impa?!"  
'Apmi' tugged off a wig of brown hair. "Yeah, it's me. And don't be so shocked if a waitress knows your name. You're Princess Zelda, remember?"  
  
"Impa, what in Din's name are you doing here?!"  
"Well, Summer and I just couldn't resist. We had to find out what you'd be doing tonight. I told-"  
"Hold up! You mean Summer is here too?"  
"Yeah! She's in the cabinet by the door."  
"What, you mean that one with the hand sticking out of it? Was it hers?"  
"No," Impa sighed. "It was Meryl's." Zelda raised an eyebrow. "You know, the one I stole this outfit from. I lent her my clothes to wear temporarily, even though she's unconscious. Summer is in there, making sure that none of Meryl's body was seen!" Her nonstrils flared. "Obviously, she's not doing her job. I bet George Bush could do better!"  
"Did somebody call me?" said Bush, sticking his head into the door.  
Insinctively, Zelda whipped around and struck him across face. He fell to the floor, apparently knocked out. "Oops.well Impa, I'd better be going."  
"Oh, and by the way," said Impa. "That was some great outfit you had on earlier. Who designed it?" Zelda laughed, and she smiled.  
Summer, who was in the cabinet, spoke into her walkie-talkie. She was speaking with Link, who was positioned in the kitchen. "Meryl's really heavy!" she whispered. "Her arm just slid through this door! Geez, what kind of food do they serve here?"  
"Better not said," Link whispered back. He had taken the liberty of stealing Bob's chef attire. Poor Bob had been stored in a broken-down oven. The two of them had to talk in whispers, so as not to arouse any suspicion.  
  
As soon as Zelda told him that she was going to a restaurant with Marth that evening, Link had been determined to know exactly what was going to go on. Impa, or "Apmi," could also communicate using a small walkie-talkie. She said that she had always wanted to do espionage work, but changed her mind and became a nursemaid for a princess instead (must have been a huge dilemma).  
Zelda returned to her seat. She smiled at Marth, who was giving her a confused look. "Sorry.about that."  
"Well you didn't really miss anything while you were gone," her father said. "We were just talking about your almost murder and everything."  
"Well if you don't mind," said Zelda, still smiling. "I'd appreciate it very much if you'd change the subject while I'm here."  
"Certainly," King Jaraad offered immediately. "So Zelda, I hear that my son Marth had a battle with the Hero of Time earlier today."  
"What, weren't you there to see it?" she asked.  
"Nope. I just arrived this afternoon. What was the outcome?"  
"Well I hate to say it, but your son lost horribly," Zelda answered. King Harkinian snorted a laugh into his napkin. "Okay, I'm joking."  
"You mean he won?" King Jaraad asked, grinning.  
"No. Link is very difficult to beat you know," Zelda responded. She sighed absentmindedly, with a huge smile on her face. Her father coughed again, and he was staring at her, trying to get his daughter to come back to her senses. "But all in all, Marth played wonderfully."  
"Oh really?" Jaraad asked darkly. "I'll be the judge of that. I asked one of the nurses to tape the battle for me. I'll ask for it once I get back to the castle."  
Marth was staring at Impa. "You know, I think that Apmi is a little strange. It's like she doesn't recognize who we are!"  
"You're not insulted, are you Marth?" Zelda asked, grinning.  
"No, I'm just stating a fact. That's all."  
Eventually, they all ordered. And eventually, all their food was brought.  
"Goddesses!" King Jaraad exclaimed. "This meat tastes like iron!"  
"Iron is good for you!" King Harkinian joked. No one laughed.  
"Well I'm going to go complain!" Zelda offered. "A nice restaurant like this has no excuse to make ironic food."  
And with that, the princess headed off in direction of the kitchen. At this point, she did not know that Link was in there. All she wanted was an excuse to get away from the table.  
As soon as she entered the kitchen, all activity seemed to stop. All heads turned in her direction. This was nothing new to Zelda, but she found it a bit awkward to see all these chef people gawking at her. Eventually, all of them continued working-all except that one guy still staring at her in the far corner.  
"Excuse me," she said to one of the cook dudes. "May I please speak to the guy who's in charge?" The chef pointed at who he believed was Bob. "Thanks."  
"Zelda!"  
"Link?!"  
"Sh, back here!" Link quickly grabbed Zelda's arm and pulled her behind a very large oven.  
"Link, what're you doing here?" Zelda asked him. Link worriedly tried to figure out if her expression was one of anger or confusion. Then she smiled. "You aren't jealous, are you?"  
"No, why in Din's name should I be jealous?"  
Zelda smiled him down. "Link, don't worry about it. It's just formal dinner, that's all. Nothing serious." He smiled sheepishly. "Was it your idea?"  
"What?"  
"To bring Summer and Impa and spy on me."  
"Actually, it was Impa's idea."  
"What!? Impa?!" Zelda folded her arms. "I don't believe you."  
"It's true. She was the only one who knew where you were going."  
Zelda sighed. "I guess you're right."  
"You know personally, I'm insulted."  
"Why? Whaddya mean?"  
"You look like you wanted to look your best tonight. Normally you don't really care. And now you have a dinner date with Prince Marth, so you feel you need to dress up and look more beautiful than ever."  
Zelda had to laugh at this. "I'm sorry. My dad was really angry at me, and I had to do something to please him."  
  
"What did you do?" Link asked curiously.  
"Ha, wouldn't you like to know." Gently, she caressed his cheek, kissing his lips gently. Then suddenly-  
"Ack, BOB! YOUR FISH FILET IS BURNING!!"  
"Oops, gotta go Princess!" And with that, Link dashed around the oven to save his filet.  
Zelda walked out of the kitchen, her confidence restored.  
  
An hour or two later, they had all finished eating.  
"Any desert you think?" King Jaraad asked.  
"Maybe not here," King Harkinian said, as he added up the prices of all their dinners. "But there's an ice cream shop just around the corner."  
"Sounds good to me," Marth decided.  
"Me too," Zelda agreed. She nodded at Apmi, who brought over their check  
  
After King Harkinian had paid for everything, the four crowned heads headed for the door. Zelda and Marth were in front, while the two Kings lagged behind them.  
"Augh!" Zelda cried, as soon as she stepped outdoors. But Marth was smiling widely. 


	44. Newspaper Delivery

Hundreds of cameras were flashing in their faces. Perhaps the Fancy Place didn't care much for royals, but the press sure did.  
"Coming from a dinner, eh?" one newsman shouted.  
"How was it? Where are you going now?" another called out.  
Zelda was, of course, in shock. She wasn't used to getting so much public attention. And, truth be told, she didn't care for it at all. She looked back at her father for help, but all he could do was return her astonished appearance.  
"Say Prince Marth," one reporter yelled. "How's about givin' your date a kiss, huh?"  
"Ack, NO!" Zelda squeaked, unheard by the loud people around her.  
But before she could do anything, Marth was fulfilling the newspaper guy's request-and not without passion, I must say. Zelda just stood there, limp from shock. And yet Marth was making it look like she was limp from what he liked to call "happy" surprise. Of course, he was the one who was in for quite a (literal) shock himself.  
With all her strength, Zelda shoved her arms forward, with one of her almighty "yahs." Din's fire burst in Marth's face, leaving soot all over it. Hyrule's princess glared at him, breathing heavily. "What in Din's name do you think you're doing?!" she erupted.  
It was then that Apmi broke through the Fancy Place's front doors. "What in Hyrule is going on out here?!" she yelled. The cameras started flashing in her face as well, to her annoyance.  
"So you're from Hyrule, are you?" a newswoman asked.  
"GAAAAHHH!"  
With all the attention now turned to Impa, the four royal peoples managed to make a mad dash for it, with no one following.  
"So.still up for that ice cream?" King Jaraad asked.  
"Sure," King Harkinian answered. "What about you, Zelda?"  
Emitting a short shriek, Zelda transformed into her alter-ego. Before her father could say anything, the Hylian princess ran. Ran and ran until she reached Peach's castle.  
Sheik changed back to Zelda, and ran down the hallways to her room.  
"Hi Zel," Samus greeted, as the princess flew past her.  
Without a response, Zelda slammed into her door, unlocked it and threw herself onto her bed. The door slowly closed.  
Inside of her, she knew it really wasn't too much of a deal. But that was waaay inside. On the outer surface, Zelda was going crazy. How dare Marth have the nerve to kiss her like that.and right in front of the media's faces, too!!  
She heard the door open. "Zellie?"  
"Go away!" she cried. "I don't care who you are, just leave me alone! I think I'm having a mental break down!"  
"But Zel, it's just me. Summer."  
With a bit of reluctance, Zelda sat up. Summer observed that the front of her cousin's lavender gown sparkled with wet tear lines.  
"What happened?" Summer finally asked. "We heard a riot outside, and Impa went to see what was going on. She didn't come back for a while."  
Zelda wiped away her tears. "I'm fine Summer, really. Maybe I'll talk more about it tomorrow."  
Summer hugged her tightly, and then left to her own bedroom. Sighing, Zelda started changing into her Hello Kitty nightgown. She prayed that Link would never find out what had happened.  
***  
The next morning, Zelda stepped outside of her room and almost got hit by a flying newspaper. Alarmed, she looked up.  
"Morning Zelda!" Fox greeted cheerfully.  
"What're you doing?" Zelda asked drowsily.  
"Delivering papers!!" Fox shouted. She looked at him blankly. "King Toadstool just subscribed to 'The Daily Smasher' and 'Royal Rubble.'"  
"Never heard of neither," Zelda responded. "Are you delivering them to all of us?"  
"Yep. But I'm just giving out 'Royal Rubble.' Falco's covering the south side with the 'Daily Smasher.' Well, got more to go. Bye!" And with that, Fox dashed off.  
Zelda picked up the paper. Before she got a chance to look at it though, the phone rang.  
"Hello?"  
"Zelda?" It was Samus, but she was speaking in a very stern voice.  
"Yeah.what's up?"  
"YOU, that's what!! Link asked me to call you because he was too afraid to do it himself."  
"Sam, what're you talking about?"  
"Don't you 'Sam' me, Zel! Didn't you get the paper this morning?"  
"Well, yes."  
"Did you look at it yet?"  
"Well, no."  
"THEN LOOK AT IT!!" Samus roared, before hanging up.  
Zelda hung up too. "Well, what on earth was that all a-" Her eyes widened, and she spat out the herbal tea she had just made. "Holy Hyrule! What is this?!"  
To Zelda's horror, she found herself on the front page of the Royal Rubble. And Marth was on it too.KISSING HER!! She let out a long scream.  
Summer came running out of her room. "Zellie? What is it?!"  
Zelda, whose heart beat had just increased immensely, began to calm down. As she read the article, she found that the newspapermen had written about her response to Marth's (evil and risqué) actions. It would certainly be embarrassing to the Altean prince if he read it.  
Summer still stood there. "What.was that scream all about?"  
Zelda's eyes widened again. "Oh goddesses, I've got to go!! I'll be right back Summer!" In a flash, the Hylian princess ran out of the room.  
Shaking her head, Summer went back to her room and into bed.  
  
Running down the southern hallways, Zelda tried desperately to remember which room was Link's. Fox had told her that Falco was delivering a different subscription to those in the south wing-which included Link and Samus.  
Zelda came to a stop as she ran by Captain Falcon's room. He was a late sleeper, so he hadn't gotten his newspaper yet. She picked it up and scanned the front page article.  
It was had the same picture as the other, only the editorial had a totally different perspective.  
She sank down by Falcon's door and read it. How dare that newspaper!! It had the nerve to imply that Zelda had willingly let Marth kiss her like that.ooh, it was so humiliating!! Gritting her teeth, she felt a surge of anger rush through her. Zelda knew that this was the article that Samus and Link had both read.  
"Hi Zel, what're you doing out here?"  
Captain Falcon had poked his head outside his door, and had scared the living daylights out of Zelda.  
"GAAH!" As she jumped up, the paper went flying out of her hands and into Falcon's face, and ran down the hall to Link's room.  
301, 302, 303.here we go, 304.  
Steadying herself, Zelda knocked on the door. Please answer.she thought. Please open up!!  
"Who is it?" came Young Link's voice from inside.  
"It's me, Zelda!" she said back.  
"Go away!"  
"Young Link, please! You must let me explain this to.your older self!"  
"Why should I? Is there a wrong way to take this story?! What could possibly be left to explain?? The picture says all!"  
"Young Link, you let me in here or else I'll break down this door!!"  
"No you won't."  
"You know I can, and I will! Now let me in!"  
After a slight hesitation, Young Link slowly opened the door. Zelda had almost never seen an expression so cross. "He's in the bedroom," the young hylian warrior said darkly.  
Kneading her hands, Zelda walked up to the door with caution. She opened it slowly, trying not to disturb the one who laid inside.  
"Link?" She looked around for him, but didn't see him. "Link, where are-" she noticed a lump underneath his bedcovers. Her gaze shifted towards a paper that lay on his nighstand. There were six teardrops on it that had smudged the print  
With gentle hands, Zelda reached down and pulled the covers off of Link. He sat huddled in the top corner, crouched into some sort of ball. He looked up at her, with an expression that was quite easy to translate.  
What have you done to me? It seemed to say. Were you simply toying with me? Sadness and confusion erupted from his face.  
"Link, don't take this the wrong way," Zelda said quietly.  
"What's that supposed to mean?" he whispered.  
Zelda gradually sat down on a chair by his bedside. "Listen to me Link. They've got it all wrong. Truly."  
Link sprang up and snatched the paper. "How could they?! Look at that picture, Zel!" He smacked it with his hand. "That is you! And that is Marth! And this.did you read it?!"  
"Yes. But I-"  
"But you didn't read it right, did you? Well then ALLOW me, princess!" He started reading from the article. "'Their wonderful evening together alone ended with a very passionate kiss from Marth, returned by Hyrule's princess Zelda! We believe that an engagment is to be announced soon, so don't be surprised. We hope furthur articles will ensue on this romantic relationship.' And your expression! Just look-"  
"Link, you're jumping to conclusions!" Zelda yelled, standing up. "Won't you please just listen to me? Why do you believe them? You don't even KNOW them, but you know me! You know I love you! You know you can trust me!"  
"No, I don't. In my whole life, I don't think I've ever been able to fully trust anyone."  
"Link, how can you say something like that?"  
"Because it's true! TRUST! Is there even such a thing.?"  
"Link, please. You're starting to exaggerate. You're-"  
"No, I'm not! It seems to me that the only way people survive in this world is through lies and deceit! I'm almost beginning to believe what Ganon said to me once." He snorted. "'Anyone who feeds on honesty will be very unsuccessful in his later days.'"  
"Oh, please! You're really carrying on! I think someone must have spiked your water last night, or something! You're taking this whole thing too far!"  
"No, I'm not princess! You never cared for me at all! It's obvious that you've had this thing for Marth for years! And you were just trying to make him jealous, weren't you?! Why I risked my hide trying to save you, I have absolutely no idea anymore."  
Zelda no longer felt bad for Link. He'd just made her more upset than she'd ever been in her entire life (and that's including the time Summer set her pet dog on fire by accident). She walked up to him, and struck him hard across the face. The force knocked Link back onto his bed.  
Zelda stared at her hand, shaking. "Oh, Link.I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry! I just got so frustrated. Please, forgive me. Listen to what I have to say."  
But he wasn't about to give in that easily. "No, you're going to listen!" he shouted. Link swung to the other side of his bed and grabbed his sword.  
"Don't!" Zelda warned him.  
Young Link came bursting through the door. "Older self, don't do it!" He was half too late. Link had already swung the sword. The sudden shout had surprised him, and the weapon went flying out of his hands. So instead of hitting her neck or heart, the sword sliced into Zelda's arm.  
Letting out a cry of agony, Zelda sank to the floor. Young Link saw his older self collapse onto his bed. Then he rushed over to Zelda.  
"Zel, are you all right?!"  
"I'm fine, I'm fine." she slowly lifted her and off of her arm where she had clutched it.  
"Fine nothing!" Young Link shouted. "Look at your arm! That cut's gotta be like three inches deep!!"  
"You're exaggerating," Zelda sighed, standing up. "Again. Why did you come in here, anyway?"  
Young Link pulled out an edition of the Royal Rubble. "This. Once you went into my older self's room, I knew something bad was bound to happen. And at first, I thought you deserved it." He coughed, as Zelda raised her eyebrows at him. The two of them walked into the kitchen, and she turned on the sink as he continued. "But then I saw your paper, and I read the front page. I knew that this paper had to be the truth. I knew you'd never do something like that to older me-especially if it was Marth."  
Zelda smiled slightly, as she let water run over her gash. "I wish you could explain it to Link. Sometimes he can be so immature."  
"I'll try Zelda. Don't worry yourself." He paused. "So did you really use Din's Fire on him? In his face?!"  
She laughed. "Yep, I did. Funny, but your newspaper seems to have left out that tiny detail." After wiping at her score, she frowned slightly. "Well, I suppose that when I wear my gloves, they'll cover up the scar."  
"You know, I bet someone did spike his drink last night."  
"Hey, how'd you know I said that?"  
Young Link rolled his eyes innocently. "Oh, I was.you know.I was just eavesdropping a little."  
Zelda looked at her scab. It reached from her elbow almost down to her wrist. Then she headed out the door. "I don't think I'll go to breakfast today. Just do me a favor.tell everyone what really happened. Including your older self."  
"Sure thing, Zel." 


	45. Forgiven

"3.2.1.GO!!" shouted Master hand.  
A new battle had started, and Zelda was there to watch it. Link and Kirby (green) were playing against Roy and Pikachu (blue). In the trenches, Zelda had her fingers crossed, praying silently for Link to win the match.  
"COME ON, LINK!!" Samus shouted next to her. "YOU CAN BEAT THAT FREAKIN' DUMBBELL ANYDAY!!!" After Young Link had explained the whole 'real story' to everyone that morning, Samus was Zelda's friend again.  
"So'd you catch the Daily Smasher today Link?" Roy asked, taking a swing at him. "It had a very interesting cover story."  
"Oh I saw it," Link assured him, ducking the blow. "But not a word of it is true. Had you been paying a little more attention to Mini-me this morning-" he ducked another swing. "-you would have realized it."  
Annoyed, the hero of time threw four bombs at his opponent. The first two hit Roy, and the other two he managed to evade.  
Roy jumped onto Slowpoke (the battle was taking place on the floating pokemon place). Link followed, and shot an arrow in his direction. Since Roy hadn't landed on his feet, he was forced to scramble to them now. But he was too late, and the arrow hit him.  
Pikachu jumped down onto Slowpoke as well. The tail slowly unfurled. Then suddenly, a rock came falling out of nowhere and hit Pikachu in the head.  
"PIKA-PI, PIKACHUUU!" he erupted.  
Yes, the rock was Kirby. Laughing triumphantly, the chunk o' gum quickly swallowed Pikachu. Then he burped him out, and was left with a little mouse hat.  
"Ooh, I look so fashionable in these Pikachu ears!" Kirby cried joyously.  
Grumbling incomprehensibly, Pikachu leapt ontop of the dude who just stole one of his moves. An outstanding fist fight followed. So breathtaking, that it ended up making them both miss the jump onto the next pokemon. They both went screaming off the edge.  
"KIRBY.DEFEATED!" Master hand shouted (Kirby had lost a couple lives previously in the game).  
"Oh, no!" Link whispered under his breath. Now he was left all alone to conquer these two smashers. Pikachu had one life left, and Roy had two. Link was left with just a single life remaining.  
"Pika-pi, pik!" Pikachu said smugly.  
"Whatever he said, I agree with it!" Roy.agreed.  
Link jumped onto Squirtle and picked up a pokeball. "Well right now, I've got one of my pokemon friends to help me!!" He threw the ball with all his might, and out came Blastoise. It started shooting water at the blue team. Roy jumped out of the way, but Pikachu's damage went from 0 to 43%.  
As Squirtle started moving down, Link, Roy, and Pikachu leapt onto the next pocket monster.  
A pokeball came flying out of nowhere, and landed in Roy's hands. He grinned. The Altean tossed the ball, and it almost went over the edge. Roy chased after it. "Ooh, a pokemon friend! Hi, friend!.OOPS!"  
Roy was starting to give his 'pokemon friend' a little too much emotion. So much, that when he ran to hug it, it went toppling off the rim of the battlefield. "SOOORRRYYYY!!!!"  
"PIKACHU, PI!!" cried I know you know who it is("you idiot! You just killed one of my pokemon friends!!").  
Link laughed. "I'm sorry!" he said. "But that's just funny!"  
Shouting something in Japanese, Roy leapt on top of Link. They wrestled for a few minutes, until they went rolling off of Onix's head.  
"Aw, no!" Zelda cried.  
"LINK DEFEATED!" Master hand shouted. "GAME!.THIS GAME'S WINNER IS BLUE!!"  
The crowd applauded. "I think blue is the lucky color in this tournament," Samus commented with annoyance.  
"I could agree with that," Zelda seconded.  
Link was transported back to the trenches. Kirby had already left.  
"Dr. Mario should be back soon," Zelda said, taking Link's hand. "You should have won."  
"Well, life can sometimes be unfair," Link said, embracing the princess.  
"I know, but why can't it ever by unfair in my favor?"  
Link laughed at that. Then he started to soften up. "Princess.I'm really. really very sorry for what I did this morning. I must have been going crazy or something. I'm sorry.you were right. I do jump to conclusions. I guess that I also jump to jealousy. Forgive me?"  
"I guess so," said Zelda, smiling. "Well, here comes Dr. Mario." She suddenly grabbed his face, pulling him forward, and kissed him. "There, now are you feeling any better?"  
Link grinned, and Dr. Mario shoved him onto the stretcher. "Good-bye princess. I'll be rooting for you when you fight."  
"Bye Link."  
"Hey Zelda," said Ness, jogging up to her. "Your dad wants you."  
"Does he now?" Zelda asked with annoyance.  
"Yep. He says to meet him by his room. Wants to talk to ya."  
"Uhg.Thanks Ness."  
Grumbling slightly, Zelda walked to her father's room. She was worried about what it was exactly that he wanted to talk to her about. Before she had a chance to knock, the door opened.  
"Come in, Zelda," said her father. She did so, and he shut the entrance behind her. They both sat down, and he sighed. "Zelda, I know you probably saw the Daily Smasher this morning."  
"Yeah," Zelda mumbled. "I did. Is that what you wanted to talk about? Because I've got a game in like, forty-five minutes. But did you see the Royal Rubble today?"  
"The Royal Rubble?" King Harkinian asked. "No, I didn't."  
"Well that's the paper that has the true story. And before you start asking me questions, I never, EVER want Marth to kiss me again. That was the most ghastly experience I've ever had in my entire life."  
"But in this picture, it seems like you liked it," King Harkinain started, gesturing towards the photo in the paper.  
"That's what it looks like," Zelda sniffed, folding her arms. "You can't hardly see my face, in contrast to his."  
"I suppose you're right," the King sighed.  
"But dad, can you just imagine what this made Link feel like?"  
Her father frowned, and lowered his gaze. "Well no. I completely forgot about the boy and how he'd feel."  
"Well I didn't," said Zelda, standing. "And that means something, doesn't it? Or does it to you?"  
"Zelda, please don't get angry," King Harkinain begged. "That's the last thing I need on my hands right now. I know that the thing last night bothered you"  
"Understatement!!" Zelda cut in. "It did MORE than bother me!"  
"-but it's in the past. It happened, and now its over. You'll just have to get over it now."  
"It's easy for you to say!" Zelda shouted. "It didn't happen to you! This article hasn't lied about you!" She snatched the newspaper from her father. "Who wrote this thing, anyway?!" The princess checked it for a name. "Max Cliggot, huh? Well, I think that our dear Mr. Cliggot is going to be in for a nasty state of affairs once I find him!" She took a few deeeeeep breaths, and then faced her father. "You know what I felt when he kissed me?"  
"...no, what?'  
"Absolutely nothing."  
"Zelda, please," said King Harkinian, hugging her. "It's almost Christmas."  
"GACK! HOLY FARORE, YOU'RE RIGHT!!" Zelda shouted. "Oh, I've got to go! I need to plan something with Peach! Bye dad!"  
And with that, she went hurrying out the door. 


	46. Onett

"Ready Luigi?" Zelda asked, slipping on a red glove.  
"I am-a ready, Zelda."  
The two of them were playing against Captain Falcon and DK (green). It was going to be a breeze.  
  
"3.2.1.GOOOOO!" Master hand screamed.  
"Show me your moves," Captain Falcon taunted.  
"All right, babe!" Zelda said. She dashed towards him, doing cartwheels on the ground. The captain received a strong kick in the jaw.  
"Ouch!" he cried. "THAT HURT!"  
"DUH, YOU RETARD!!" Samus shouted from the trench.  
"Hey-a Zelda, look-a out!" Luigi shouted.  
"Yeah!" said DK. "'Cause I'm comin' down!"  
"No," said Luigi, jumping into a tree. "Because-a a car is-a coming!"  
  
The smashers were battling it out at Onett. Zelda leapt up and onto another tree. Falcon and DK were hit by a huge black car, and some serious damage was added to them. Zelda and Luigi bounced on the trampoline trees for a while, waiting patiently for their opponents to regain conciousness.  
"This is-a sure fun, eh-a Zelda?"  
"Sure is, Luig!"  
"That-a is a-a new one."  
"Thanks! Making up nicknames is my hobby!"  
"Falcon-PUNCH!" Cpt. Falcon came whirling up, and landed on Zelda's branch. His punch, however, missed badly.  
"Catch me if you can!" she teased, jumping onto the roof.  
"Hey, isn't that a movie?" asked Falcon, stopping to think. But his deep thoughts were interrupted by a bat hitting him.  
"Bye-bye, birdie!" Zelda laughed. She steadied herself, and brought her bat whamming down onto the Captain's helmet. He went sailing away  
"Nice-a work, Zelda!" Luigi congratulated.  
  
"Wow," said Kirby, who was in the hospital watching the battle. "Zelda's sure a great smasher."  
"Yep," Link agreed. "She's a tough one to beat!"  
  
"Hey-a, DK!" said Luigi. "There-a is a-a Ferrari! Spyder!"  
"Where?!" The ape asked excitedly, jumping down into the street. He got hit by a car and was sent skidding to the other side of the screen.  
"Oops, my-a mistake!" Luigi called out. "I guess that it-a was a junky-a old jalopy! He's all-a yours, Zelda!"  
Right on cue, Zelda ran over to DK and picked him up. "So we meet again, eh Donkey Kong?" She twirled (and electrocuted) him above her head, and flung him over to the faaaaar left. The crowd cheered, and she did her taunt.  
"DONKEY KONG.DEFEATED!" master hand shouted.  
"Yes!" Zelda exclaimed. "Only one nut-head to go!"  
"Heeyy, was that an insult?" Captain falcon accused.  
"I don't believe it!" Samus shouted, as DK was shipped to the trenches. "YOU died before Falcon!!"  
"Don't remind me," the monkey dude moaned.  
"Hey, hey, hey," said Captain Falcon, moving back, as Zelda and Luigi closed in on him. "Can't we sort this out calmly and.like civilized people?"  
"Nope-a, sorry!" said Luigi, stepping forward. Then all of a sudden, he went flying away!  
"YYYYYES!" shouted Captain Falcon. "I DID IT!! HE FELL FOR IT!! I'M A GENIUS!! HE WALKED ON MY MINE!!"  
Zelda's mouth had dropped. "I.I..I d-don't believe it! Hey, SAMUS!" she shouted. "DID YOU CATCH THAT?!"  
She had, but couldn't respond. Samus had passed out, and Dr. Mario was rushing her to the hospital wing.  
"LUIGI DEFEATED!" Master hand shouted.  
"Oh, this is funny!" Zelda laughed.  
"Show me your moves," Falcon taunted again.  
"I'll show you my moves, BUDDY!" she took a bomb out from behind her and heaved it at Captain Falcon. "I happened to pick this up earlier! Happy trails!"  
And with that, the racer was sent soaring away.  
"CAPTAIN FALCON DEFEATED!.GAME!" shouted the hand that was master. "THIS GAME'S WINNER IS.RED!!"  
Zelda did her taunt again, before being transferred back to the trenches. "Where did Samus go?" she asked.  
"Hospital," said Peach. "She passed out after Luigi died from Falcon's mine. Great job though, Zel!"  
"Thanks. Not even a scratch!"  
The two princesses embraced, and Peach's hand bumped for a second across Zelda's hidden scar.  
"Ergh!" she cried, holding the spot in a tight grip.  
"Zel, what's wrong?" Peach asked.  
Zelda inhaled deeply, and straightened. "I'm fine. Still good for later?"  
"Yep! We still have to talk to some of the others though."  
"Sounds good to me."  
And so, Peach and Zelda walked out of the trenches to find some of their friends to join them. 


	47. Let's go to the MALL!

"Impa, can't ya drive any faster?" Summer asked impatiently.  
All of the smashers, Summer, Impa, and the three kings (not of Orient) were all driving to the mall. Impa had insisted on being the chauffer, but wasn't doing a great job driving so far.  
"Why are they being so RUDE?!?!" Impa shouted, glaring (in her rear view mirror) at every car behind her as they all started honking.  
"This is just a guess," said Zelda. "But it may have something to do with the fact that we're going ten miles an hour when the speed limit is fifty-five."  
"Ohhh, so that's what the ten means!" Impa said, indicating towards the speedometer. "Why didn't someone tell me? Fasten your seat belts guys, 'cause HERE WE GOOOOOO!!!"  
And so, they finally sped up to fifty-five.  
"So remind me again," Popo drawled. "Why are we going to the mall?"  
"We are-a Christmas-a shopping!" Mario shouted, jumping up and down.  
"Sit down, Mario!" Peach scolded. "You're tilting the bus!"  
"So whose idea was it to do this anyway?" Samus asked. "I mean, you know, just out of curiousity."  
"It was Peach's," Zelda answered.  
"WOW!!!" Gannondorf shouted. "THAT IS SO COOL!!! THANKS PEACH!!! WE LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!"  
"Okayyy, too much love, people," said Peach.  
"The mall is so cool!" Bowser cheered. "I can't wait to go to the FAO Barbie® store!!!"  
"YEAH!" Gannondorf seconded. "They're selling Tango Barbie!! The costumes are so cooooolll!!!"  
"Well I heard that the GameKeeper is having a half-off sale," Mewtwo said from a dark corner. "It's time for me to add to my pokemon collection."  
"Pika-pi-pika?" Pikachu asked, scratching his head.  
"Of course I collect, dumbhead," Mewtwo responded. "I have a shiny me, and a Japanese you!" The two of them danced around in circles.  
"You guys, this is Christmas shopping," Link reminded them. "We should NOT be telling each other what we're getting."  
"Oh, yes, SSSHHHHH!!!" Fox shushed them.  
"SSSSHHHH!!!" they all shushed.  
And the rest of the drive was nice and quiet.  
  
"We'll attract too much attention if we go in all together," said Peach, as they all stood inside the garage.  
"Yeah you're right," Zelda agreed. "We'll have to split up. I'll go with you, Samus, and-"  
"Oh, let's just split up boys and girls and then divide up later if we want to," said Falco. Everyone agreed, and they set off.  
"Wow Peach," Summer admired, as they walked in. "You sure look really different with such casual clothes on."  
"Is that a compliment?" Peach asked, smiling. She was wearing a black miniskirt and a red T that said "FLIRT" in large letters. "Because so does your cousin over here."  
Zelda laughed. She was wearing her jeans again, and a black T shirt that said in red lettering "Love stinks." "Maybe now no one will recognize us," she whispered, with a hint of hopefulness.  
"Now let's see.ooh, there's Sharper Image!" said Samus. "Aw, they've got like the coolest stuff in there! C'mon, let's go inside!"  
Samus and Zelda went over to an object in a glass box. "Hey guys, over here!" the princess beckoned. "It's one of those portable DVD players!"  
Their friends rushed over. "What's playing?" Nana asked them.  
"It's that Robert Zemeckis movie.oh, what's it called..Death Becomes Her!" Samus said triumphantly (wearing red shorts and a yellow Tee).  
"Never seen it," Peach said.  
"Never heard of it," commented Impa (donning sunglasses, yellow rain gear, and ballet slippers).  
"Let's watch it!" Summer urged (wearing jeans and a Snow White Tee).  
"OKAY!"  
So the seven of them stood in front of the glass case and watched the movie that had just started.  
"That is getting so weird," Meryl Streep said, walking past the display case.  
"I know what you mean," Goldie Hawn agreed, as they left the store. (A/N: they star in that movie, for those of you who haven't seen it) 


	48. Barbie Store

Meanwhile, Gannondorf and Bowser were trying to get the rest of the guys to follow them to the Barbie store.  
"C'mon!" Ganon begged. "Just for a few minutes? Please???"  
"Why don't you just go in there yourselves?!" Marth asked.  
Bowser and Ganon slowly turned towards each other. "GREAT IDEA!!" They rushed into the store.  
"Glad that's over with," Link muttered, as the rest of them walked away. He turned towards Roy and Marth. "You know, I think you guys should've worn some more.informal clothes. People are starting to stare at your capes and those swords." He raised his eyebrows.  
Marth shook his head sadly. "Peasants."  
"Didn't you see Zelda today?" Link asked him. The Hero of time was wearing baggy jeans and a Polo shirt. "I guess not."  
"WOW!" Ganon cried. "There's only one Tango Barbie left, and it's ALL MINE!! BWA HA HA HA!!"  
He made a grab for it, but Bowser landed on his arm. "I saw it first!" the Koopa growled.  
As they were arguing and wrestling, a three year old girl reached up and took the tango Barbie. "I want this, mommy," she said.  
The mom paid for it, and they started to leave the store.  
"HEY!" Gannondorf shouted. "THAT LITTLE GIRL TOOK MY TANGO BARBIE!!! COME BACK, YOU DUMB KID YA!!!!!!"  
"STAY BACK, YOU FREAK OF NATURE!!" the mom shouted. Taking quick action, she jumped in the air and gave both villains a kick square in the jaw. "Come on, Sally." With her nose up, she stalked out of the store, Sally in tow.  
"Man, dumb ol' Sally," Ganon grumbled. Then his eyes lit up. "OOH! Look Bowser! It's Rose from Titanic! Barbie style, too!"  
"Yeah!" Bowser shouted. "And there are like, twenty different kinds!!"  
  
"Do you remember were you parked the car?"  
Death Becomes Her ended, and left our girls laughing hysterically.  
"Wow, that was really good!" Impa laughed.  
"Uhhh, can I help you ladies with something?"  
They all whipped around, and found themselves facing a (rather attractive) worker. They blinked. He blinked.  
"Oh, uh, no thanks," Peach finally said. "We were just.uh."  
"Standing here for a couple hours watching a DVD," the worker said. They nodded. "Were you planning on buying anything?"  
"No, not really," Zelda answered.  
He turned to her. His eyes widened. "YOU'RE ZELDA!!" he shouted. "WOW!! THIS IS SO COOL!! CAN I HAVE YOUR AUTOGRAPH?!??"  
"No!" Zelda shouted. "I'm not a celebrity!"  
Celebrity or not, the princess had attracted quite a crowd. A very large crowd, to be exact.  
"Hey look, there's Jigglypuff!" someone shouted.  
"And there's Samus, and Princess Peach!" another added.  
"Don't anyone come a step closer!!" Samus shouted. "If you do, I'll blast your head off!"  
Of course no one took her seriously. Then one stupid guy said, "Hey, do one a you wanna show us one of your moves?"  
"I'll show you one, buddy!" Zelda cried. She grabbed the collar of his sweater, and held it tightly. Suddenly, a surge of electricity blasted through her fingertips and onto him.  
The man was sent flying backwards. Zelda walked over and picked up his Yankee hat. She threw it on her head, making sure it landed with the cap over her eyes. "Thanks," she said. "I may need this."  
The disgruntled female smashers walked out of the store.  
"Okay, I think we should start shopping now," Peach suggested.  
  
Meanwhile, the boys (minus Ganon+Bowser) were already laden with bags.  
"Shopping can sure be tiresome," Mewtwo groaned.  
"I know," Roy agreed. "If this is how much we have after this much time, I hate to think how much the girls have got done already."  
Link shrugged.  
"Pika, pi-pi-pi!" Pikachu (like I needed to tell you) chirped. He looked up at his group, rubbing his stomach.  
"He says he's hungry," Mewtwo said. "And I am too."  
Basically, everyone else was hungry too. So, they headed off in direction of the food court.  
Link and Young Link walked up to a Chinese take-out place.  
"MMMMM!" Young Link mmed. "Chinese!"  
"Hey-a look," said Mario. "It's-a an Italian-a place!"  
"Let's-a go, huh?" Dr. Mario cheered.  
"I wish-a that there was-a a Dr. Luigi," Luigi whined, as he followed his brother and his brother's doctor version.  
"Don't-a worry," Mario comforted. "Maybe some-a day there will-a be a Nurse-a Luigi!" He started howling with laughter, as did Dr. Mario.  
"Hey, that wasn't-a funny!" Luigi shouted.  
"What do you think we should get Falcon?" Fox asked.  
"I vote for McDonald's," Falco said.  
"Hey, he was asking ME, birdbrain!" Captain Falcon exclaimed.  
"So? I was just stating an opinion. Contrary to what you may think, it is not against the law."  
"Fine. Just don't pay me."  
".....okayyyyy, not a problem..."  
  
"Wow, look!" Zelda exclaimed. "It's a sword-cleaning kit! I wonder if Link would want one."  
Peach shrugged. "I'll bet he would. I mean its got to be better than grass. You know, I wonder if Bowser still has that cellphone I gave him last year." She pulled out her own, and dialed the number. Zelda paid for the kit, and they left the store (they had broken off from everyone else).  
"HEY!" Bowser shouted, selecting the Rose in a dinner party outfit. "There is a phone in the vicinity!!"  
"Where?" asked Gannondorf.  
"I don't know! It's coming from my backpack!!"  
".is it that cellphone Peach gave you last year?"  
".what's a cellphone?"  
Grunting with exasperation, Ganon reached into Bowser's backpack and pulled out the ringing phone. "Hello?"  
"Gannondorf? Where's Bowser?" Peach asked.  
"He was having trouble remembering where he left this."  
"Okay.where are you guys?"  
"The FAO Barbie shop!!"  
"What? I thought you were joking!" Then Zelda said something to Peach that he couldn't hear. "Ohhhh.never mind."  
"What did Zelda say?!"  
"Nothing. Did you get any CHRISTMAS shopping done yet? May I remind you that's the whole reason we came on this trip," Peach said. "Why don't you two shop for each other? That's a nice-villain thingy to do."  
"OKAY!" Ganon shouted. "We'll try it!"  
Peach rolled her eyes and 'hung up.'  
"So what've they got done?" Zelda asked her, as they continued walking down the hallway.  
"From the sound of it, absolutely nothing."  
"Hey, look!" Zelda shouted. "It's an arcade!!"  
"WOW!" Peach yelled. "C'mon, let's go in!"  
Inside the arcade room, Peach and Zelda found that the boys had already discovered it.  
"Hi Zel," Link welcomed.  
"Hey. Woah, were'd all those bags come from??"  
"They're ours," Roy and Marth said.  
"They're YOURS?!" Peach and Zelda asked in astonishment.  
"Yep," Mewtwo said. "We've been working almost endlessly for three and half hours!"  
"Where's the stuff you guys got?" Popo asked.  
"I mean surely you got more than just those two bags," Ness stated.  
Zelda and Peach exchanged glances.  
"Well-l-l.we put them back on the.bus," Peach said.  
"Yeah!" Zelda agreed. "Back on the bus!"  
As the others departed to play their separate arcade games, Link walked up to Zelda. "Who d'you think you're fooling, Zel?"  
"What's that mean?" she asked, exchanging some money for tokens.  
"That stuff's all you've gotten so far, and you know it!" Link laughed.  
Zelda smiled. "Well, I'm in the presence of a genius. Of course, you had the advantage. You know how much I detest shopping. Is that my fault?"  
"No," Link said. "But you could've gotten more done if you hadn't stopped in some store to watch an entire movie."  
"How'd you know we did that?" Zelda asked him.  
"It was just an assumption that you clarified for me."  
"Oh, you think you're so smart!" Zelda laughed, hitting his shoulder. 


	49. Outback, Hot Topic and etc

Get ready for a looong chapter, people!! BWA HA HA!! ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
"Okay, so we're here," Impa deducted, tracing her finger on a map.  
"Yeah, but we want to be there," Samus said, pointing to the food court.  
"Well then we have to go up two floors," Nana said. "And then we need to take a left, then a right, and then we go in the middle."  
So, the girls (minus Peach+Zelda) eventually made their way up the couple floors, and took the left, right and middle.  
"Okay Jigglypuff," Samus said, scanning the fast-food places at the food court. "What's your pleasure?"  
"Jiggly, jiggy-jig jig!" the pink poofy puffball peeped.  
"..you wanna run that by me one more time?" With patience, Jigglypuff grabbed Samus' hand and dragged her towards a McDonald's. "Ohhh, so you want Mickey D's, huh?" she asked. Jiggly nodded. "All right. What do you want?"  
Jigglypuff watched a man holding a McDonalds bag. He sat down and opened it. The pokemon squeaked and pointed as he started emptying the sack's many contents.  
Samus looked over at him. "So you want Big Mac, medium fries, three Nestle cookies, an orange soda and a McFlurry?" Jigglypuff nodded. "Ya got money for that?"  
"I wonder where Zelda and Peach are," Summer speculated, taking a seat next to Impa.  
Nana shrugged. "I dunno. But they've probably gotten a lot more shopping done than we have. Perhaps if we hadn't stopped at that Nintendo store and-"  
"Hey," Samus interrupted, taking a seat. "Is it my fault that I wanted to play my game? I mean they DID have it on display and everything."  
"Hi," came a voice from behind them. It was Peach. "How're y'all doin'?"  
"Jiggly," Jigglypuff said, as both Peach and Zelda took a seat.  
"We're good," Impa commented, stabbing a piece of lettuce with her fork. "Did you guys get much shopping done?"  
"Well.not really," Zelda answered. "You see, we spent part of our time at the arcade with the boys."  
"You did?" Samus asked. "So can I assume that you got barely anything?"  
"We got some stuff," Peach responded. She glanced at their bags. "I see that you haven't gotten much though either."  
"Samus just couldn't resist stopping to play her own game in a store that we passed," Summer explained. "Did you guys eat yet?"  
"Yeah. We went the Outback Steakhouse," Zelda answered. "Ooh, they sure know how to make steak, don't they Peach?"  
"Oh YEAH!"  
"Hold the phone!" Samus yelled. "You guys went to a steak house WITH OUT ME?!? WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!?"  
"About our stomachs," Peach retaliated. "We had no idea where you were. So why don't you all hurry up and eat, so we can get going again."  
  
"Pikachu, pi-pika-chu chu!" Pikachu squealed to his pre-evolution ("Let's get Mewtwo a present!").  
"Pi!" Pichu agreed ("Yeah!").  
Then the two of them stopped to think. Their thoughts were interrupted however when their friends started moving on without them.  
"Guys, you coming?" Ness asked.  
Pikachu waved his hand, motioning for them to go on.  
"You think we should leave them alone, Mewtwo?" Young Link asked. "I mean, they don't speak English."  
"They'll be fine!" Mewtwo shouted with glee, as they started to walk away. "Besides, the biggest present they could get for me would be to give me a break from all this translating! Unless of course, they bought me a jade chess set with an amber board." They all walked away.  
"Pichu-pi?!" Pichu squeaked, smiling ("Did you hear that?!")  
"Pikachu!" his development confirmed ("I sure did!"). "Pika, pi-a pi!" ("Let's go to the Gamekeeper!").  
The two mice hobbled towards the Gamekeeper, which they knew sold several different fancy chess sets. They walked up to the shelf that sold them and plunked down in front of it.  
"Pika, chu pik-pi?" Pikachu asked ("Which one is right?").  
Pichu shrugged. "Pichu-pi." ("I dunno.")  
Sitting there completely motionless, the two pokemon looked like two mis-shelved stuffed animals.  
"Hey, look!" some kid shouted. "It's some mis-shelved Pikachu and Pichu stuffed animals!!" He tried to pick them up, but got quite a shock (literally).  
"PIIIIIKAAAAA-CHUUUUUUUUU!!!!"  
There was an explosion, and the kid holding Pikachu got stuck right in the blast of it. He scrambled to his feet and rushed out the door.  
"Pikachu, pik," Pikachu comforted his sobbing pre-evolution. "Chu- pika-pi pikachu." ("Don't worry. That freak won't bother us anymore.")  
A nervous sales clerk walked up to them. "H-h-hello," he stammered. "M-may I b-be of any s-service t-to you?"  
Pikachu's ear twitched, and he nodded. "Pika-a pi, pikachu. Pika Pika Pi, chu-chu pik. Pika-"  
"Pichu," Pichu corrected.  
Pikachu nodded. "Pika-a pi, pika chu-pik. Chapik?"  
The sales clerk stared at them for several minutes. ".........what?"  
Annoyed, Pikachu grabbed the clerk's hand and dragged him behind the counter. He leapt on top of the chair, and stared at the computer screen. Then he started bouncing on the keyboard.  
"HEY!" the worker shouted. "What in Ash Ketchum's name do you think you are doing, you MOUSE YOU?!?!"  
Pikachu jumped off the keyboard, and swiveled around in the computer chair. On his fourth way around, he grabbed the sale clerk's tie, and pulled him towards the moniter. "Pika!" he grunted, pointing towards it.  
The computer screen read "We want a jade chess set with an amber board. Pronto, buddy."  
The sales clerk nodded fearfully, and ran to a shelf. He brought down a large box, and set it in front of the pokemon. Smiling, Pikachu dropped it into a sack, and started marching out the door. The bag was so big, that when he held it out in front of him, he couldn't see anything.  
"Excuse me?!" the worker called out. "You wanna pay for that?"  
Pichu turned around. He glared at the guy, his cheeks sparking.  
".but you don't have to if you don't want to!"  
Walking in a superior manner, the two pokemon exited the store and went to find their companions.  
"So, do you think Pichu would like this Spongebob shirt?" Mewtwo asked Roy, holding it up. "Tell me honestly."  
"Too yellow," Roy criticized. "He needs some different color."  
"But Spongebob is his favorite show!"  
"Then why don't you get him this Patrick shirt?" Link suggested, holding up the item.  
"Great idea!" Mewtwo praised. "Put back this shirt, would ya?"  
"Sure," said Link graciously. As he walked over to put the shirt back on its hanger, he accidentally bumped into another person.  
"Oh, sorry dude."  
"It's all right, my friend!" the person said cheerfully.  
Link glanced up at her and his jaw dropped. "Oh my Goddesses!" he exclaimed. "You're-you.YOU'RE LIZZIE MCGUIRE!!!"  
"Great work Sherlock," Lizzie laughed. "The name's Hillary Duff." She did a double take. "Woah! You're Link! From the legend of Zelda!!"  
"Yyyeah," said Link. "You know, I really love your show! So does Zelda!"  
Hillary gasped. "You mean ZELDA WATCHES MY SHOW?!?!" Link nodded. The Tween Queen started jumping up and down. "That is SO cool!! I have GOT to go tell Lalaine and Adam!! It was a pleasure meeting you Link, hope we do again! Oh, and don't forget to see my movie! Coming only to theaters on May second!" She dashed out of the store.  
"Woah, what was that all about?" Fox asked, walking over. "Who was that crazy teen?"  
"That was the Tween Queen Hillary Duff!" Link shouted. "Wow, she said it was a pleasure meeting me! That was so cool!"  
"Hey, don't you already have a girlfriend?" Falco joked.  
"Har har," Link scolded lightly. "Besides, she's already got Gordork."  
"Do you know if Zelda likes Ambercrombie or Limited Too better?" Marth asked Link.  
The hero of time laughed. "Neither. If you give Zelda clothes for Christmas buddy, she's not gonna think too highly of you. She may not show it, but she despises getting articles of clothing for celebrations."  
Marth grimaced. "Then who's that for?" he asked, kicking at Link's bag from Abercrombie.  
Link laughed. "It's for Impa, Summer and Peach."  
"I knew it!" Marth gasped. "You're double-crossing Zelda!"  
"No, actually he'd be quadruple-crossing Zelda," Captain Falcon corrected. He was stunned at his genius. "Wow, I'm smart!"  
"No-a you're not," said Luigi.  
"WELL, that was rude! You know, you didn't go to Harvard yourself."  
"Duh! I went-a to-a Yale!"  
"Heyy," said Falcon slowly. "Isn't that a cooking ingredient?"  
"No, that would be yeast," said Link kindly, as they all left the store. "Oh look, there's Pikachu and Pichu."  
"Hi!" Mewtwo greeted. He glanced at their bag. "What's in there?"  
Pichu covered the top. "Pich-pi. Pichu!!"  
"All right," Mewtwo assured them. "I won't look in there. Besides,it simply couldn't be for moi. I doubt anything you guys could afford would appeal to me."  
Pikachu frowned, and a tear formed in his eye. "PIKA PI! PIKACHU!!!" he wailed miserably. Pichu cried as well.  
"Did-a you have-a to say that?" Mario asked.  
After being forced to apologize, Mewtwo set off with the rest of the group.  
"Where to next?" asked Gannondorf (he and Bowser had returned).  
Dr. Mario shrugged his left shoulder. "I don't-a know. How-a about Hot-a Topic, huh?"  
Everyone liked the idea, so they headed off in the direction of the store.  
"I wonder if they have those Jack shoelaces from the Nightmare Before Christmas?" Kirby pondered.  
"Or the Sally ones," Captain Falcon wondered.  
"Oh, look!" Link exclaimed. "Maleficent shoelaces! These are so cool! I bet Zelda would love 'em!" He picked up a pair.  
"Didn't you say Zelda hated getting clothes as gifts?" Roy asked coldly.  
"Obviously, shoeslaces don't count," Marth drawled sarcastically.  
"Of course not," Link said.  
"Hey, look at all this neat Edward Scissorhand stuff!" Fox shouted. "I like totally love that movie!!"  
"Where is it?" Falco and Link asked simoultaneously.  
"Zelda loved that movie too," said Link. "Hmmm.wow Fox, take a look at these snowglobes!" He picked one off the shelf.  
When he turned around, Link jumped and saw that he was face-to-face with a worker at the store. Her nametag read Bette Crawford.  
"Hello!" she said cheerfully. "Are you a superhero?"  
Link stared at her. "Ummm.yyyeeeaahhh, I guess so."  
"WELL AIN'T THAT JUST DANDY?!" Bette shouted, slapping Link hard on the back. "BECAUSE TODAY, HERE AT HOT TOPIC, EACH AND EVERY SUPERHERO AND THEIR FRIENDS CAN GET ANYTHING AT ALL THAT THEY WANT ABSOLUTELY FREE OF CHARGE!!!"  
"Woah, really?" Link asked, grinning. "And could you stop speaking in capital letters, please? It takes up a lot of space."  
"Okay hon!" Bette said. "Well y'all just get yer stuff and ski- daddle!"  
The (male) smashers walked out of the store, laden down with numerous amounts of junk they had purchased.  
Popo checked his watch. "My clock's broken. Anyone got the time?"  
"Yeah," said Falco, checking his own watch. "It's six twenty-five. Why?"  
"Well, it's just that the girls told us to meet them at the garage at half past six," Falco explained.  
"Okay," sighed DK. "Let's go."  
Slightly sad at the prospect of leaving the grand and glorious mall, they guys trudged in the direction of the mall.  
  
Meanwhile, the girls had totally lost track of time.  
"Oh look!" cried Nana. "It's a tape of Spongebob episodes! I bet Pichu would simply LOVE that!"  
"I bet he would," Peach agreed. "And look, here's that Pokemon movie thing! We should get it for Pikachu."  
"And one for Mewtwo," said Samus.  
"Hold Din!" Zelda exclaimed suddenly. "What time is it?"  
The girls all looked around for a clock. The only one of them wearing a watch was Jigglypuff, who checked it.  
"Jiggly-jiggety jig," she said.  
Impa leaned over her shoulder to read the watch, but couldn't. "There are no numbers," she said. "And nothing's in a circular formation!"  
Jigglypuff held up six fingers.  
"Six." Zelda started.  
Jigglypuff held up two fingers, then eight.  
"Twenty-eight." Summer guessed. The pokemon nodded.  
"HOLY MALON SARIA AND RAURU PUT TOGETHER!!" Zelda screamed in horror.  
  
"What is it?" Samus asked.  
"We're supposed to meet the guys in two minutes back at the parking lot!" Impa answered.  
"Ohhhh my!" Peach gasped. "That's clear on the other side of the mall!" Pointing her finger in the air, she added, "LET'S GO, GIRLS!!"  
Looking similar to a cavalry charge, the female smashers ran as fast as their legs could carry them. As they ran, Jigglypuff held up six fingers, then two, and then nine.  
"We have one minuto!" Samus screeched.  
"You know, I think we try too hard to be punctual," Zelda huffed between deep breaths as she ran.  
"Nonsense," Peach disagreed. "Punctuality is a very favorable trait. And besides, you know punctual the guys are all the time."  
  
"Come on Pichu, hurry up!" Young Link shouted. "You know how touchy the girls are about punctuality!"  
"Pikachu, pi!" Pichu's evolution defended.  
"He said that Pichu's tired," Mewtwo explained. The feline pokemon picked up Pichu and continued to run. "C'mon Pikachu, we've got to hurry!"  
"Captain-a Falcon, you are-a supposed to-a be-a racer!" Dr. Mario yelled.  
"Can't-a you run any-a faster?" Luigi shouted, who was running in the lead with Link and Marth.  
"Don't be SO hard on him guys," Link requested. "He's just tired out."  
"Pi-Pikachu!" Pikachu stated.  
"He's tired too?" Ness asked the appointed translator.  
"Why how ever did you guess?" Mewtwo asked, rolling his eyes. He bent down and scooped up Pikachu, who was still holding his bag.  
"Look, there's the garage!" shouted Popo, Fox and Falco all at once.  
"Me get there first!" DK challenged.  
Then suddenly, out of nowhere, their female companions came dashing out of a stair well.  
"Hey look, it's the guys!" Impa shouted.  
"Quickly, we've got to beat them!" Summer squealed, laughing.  
"It's exactly six thirty and forty-five seconds!" said Nana, getting the info from Jigglypuff.  
"Jiggly!" cried you-know-who (not Voldemort).  
With a surge of adrenaline, Zelda burst in front of the group. "I'm going to get there first Link, don't even try!" she laughed.  
"I wouldn't be so sure princess!" he responded. In a very slick move, he tossed his boomerang towards her.  
Instead of coming to a halt and backing up like Link had expected, Zelda threw herself forward to avoid the weapon, and somersaulted towards the door. She sprang up on her feet and kicked it open.  
"Nice try, fairy boy!" she teased.  
Zelda held the door open as all the other smashers trudged through it. Captain Falcon came in dead last, dragging his body limply.  
"Why wouldn't Mewtwo carry me?" he huffed between breaths.  
Mewtwo glared at him, and Zelda laughed. "I don't think I need to be psychic to translate that mind," she said.  
"Okay people," said Impa.  
"And pokemon," Mewtwo added.  
"And Koopas."  
"And-a little green-a dinosaurs."  
Impa gave Mario a strange look at the last remark. "Mario, Yoshi isn't here. Try to keep that in mind. He didn't get in, remember?"  
"I'm-a sorry," Mario sniffed. "I-a wish that-a he was with-a us now."  
  
"I-a know," Luigi comforted, hugging his sobbing brother. "Maybe-a next year Yoshi can-a get in-a, huh?"  
"Poor-a plumber me," sighed Dr. Mario, stepping into the bus.  
The smashers all clambered into the vehicle, and Impa drove them back to the Mushroom Kingdom Palace. 


	50. Merry fourdaysuntilChristmas

***  
"McCloud! Wake up!" cried Falco. "Wake up!"  
"What is it?" Fox asked wearily, while slowly bringing himself to a sitting position on his bed. He rubbed his eyes and blinked.  
"It's December twenty-first, that's what!" Falco cried, throwing a pillow in the air. "Four days until CHRISTMAS!!!"  
Fox immediately jumped out of bed and into his slippers. He dashed over the refrigerator and crossed off another day on their calender. "Oh wow, I can hardly wait!!" he yelled with enthusiasm. "King Toadstool says that Christmas around here is terrific!"  
"Like it wasn't back home?" asked Falco, getting out some clothes.  
"Well terrific as in really really cool!"  
".whuuuutever."  
  
"Peach? Are you there? It's Zelda and Summer."  
Peach slowly opened her door, and saw her two friends' faces behind it. "Come in guys!" she whispered.  
They did so. Samus, Nana, and Impa were already seated on the floor.  
  
"Is Jigglypuff coming?" Summer asked, sitting on her knees next to Impa.  
"No," answered Samus. "The pokemon have decided to do all their stuff together. That way, there's no confusion with languages."  
This certain group of smashers had all congregated to wrap Christmas presents. Well, at least the ones that weren't for each other.  
"Nice pj's, Peach," Zelda snickered.  
"Oh, so I like Baby Bop," Peach snapped. "Is that a problem?"  
"No. I mean Impa still likes Sesame street," Zelda said.  
"I do NOT!" Impa yelled. She quickly sat on her Elmo slippers. "Besides, we don't even have a television anymore. I threw it out, remember?"  
"Yeah," said Zelda. "Because of this guy." She tugged at her Tony the Tiger T-shirt.  
"Okay okay," Samus interjected. "Enough with the pajama talk." She had on a silk black robe that had scenes from Terminator all over it. "Let's just get started already."  
"Impa, did you get anything for Uncle Harkinian?" Summer asked.  
"Of course I did," Impa answered. "How could I not? He IS, after all, my sovereign, little girl."  
"Oh, for a second I thought were going to say he was your boyfriend," Zelda joked.  
"Ha, ha, you'd be so lucky," Impa grumbled, hitting Zelda with her bag. "It's a good thing that I didn't buy your father anything fragile."  
"Then what'd you get him?" Peach asked, lugging out a huge box of wrapping paper.  
"This," Impa responded. "I've got a whole bag of stuff." First, she pulled out an apron that read 'Kiss the Cook.'  
"But dad's already got one of those," Zelda said.  
"I know," Impa consented. "Actually, he's got seventeen. I give him one every year. It's kind of an inside joke."  
"Okay.anything else?"  
Impa took out a Jasper picture frame, a silver skillet, a Yoga instructional video, a Green Destiny sword letter opener, and a banjo.  
"What's with the banjo?" asked Nana.  
Impa shrugged. "I dunno. The store was having a sale, and it was the first thing that I saw. So I bought it."  
"Whatever," said Nana, opening up her own bag. "Well, what do you guys think of this new hammer I got for Popo?"  
"Wow, that's so neat!" Samus cried. "I want a hammer too! But unluckily for me, I have no siblings in the tournament to get me one."  
"Samus, did you get Captain Falcon anything?" Zelda asked sweetly.  
"Actually, I did," Samus answered. "A dunce hat."  
Everyone laughed. "Oh, har har!" Impa scolded lightly.  
"But I did actually decide to join in the holiday cheer, and I got something for him," Samus admitted. "Look! It's a bar of deodorant! Trust me, he'll go crazy over it. I mean just the fact that I gave it to him will make him like it."  
"Deodorant?" Zelda asked, raising her eyebrows. "That's rude!"  
"Well have you ever gotten close to that guy?" Samus asked. "He smells like a monkey!"  
"Hey, that's an insult to Donkey Kong," Summer cut in, pulling something out of her own bag. "Zel, do you think that Young Link will like this book?"  
"What's it called?" Zelda asked, who was busy covering Link's sword cleaning kit with Monopoly wrapping paper.  
"It's called 'Tango for Dummies.'"  
Zelda laughed. "If he's anything like his older self, he'd dig that book."  
"Yeah I bet he will," Nana encouraged. "I remember after Zelda and Ganon danced, he came up to me and Ness and said he wanted to learn how to tango."  
"Then it's a great idea," said Peach. She glanced at her bags. "You know, I'm beginning to wonder how much I spent over there." She reached up and took her wallet off her nightstand. Peach counted the money left. "Wow! I only spent 225 dollars!"  
"Did you buy something for everybody?" Summer asked. Peach nodded. "How'd you get away with it?"  
"Well most of the time I threatened the clerks that if they didn't let me have the stuff for free, I'd hurt 'em bad."  
"What would you do," Samus started. "Throw a stewed vegetable at them?"  
Peach threw a vegetable at her. "Never underestimate the power of veggies! she exclaimed, striking a gallant pose.  
"Riiiggghhht," Impa laughed. "So Peach, what did you get for your heroic plumber, hm?"  
"Well I got Mario this new wrench he's been pining for (his old one broke you know), and I got his doctor version a new stethescope he's been wanting."  
  
Meanwhile, Pikachu, Pichu and Jigglypuff were all in the kitchen. They wanted to do their wrapping for Mewtwo.  
"Jiggly jiggy puff?" the pink one asked the two mice. ("What did you guys get him?").  
"Pika!" Pikachu responded ("This!"). He pulled the chess set out of their bag. "Pikachu pichu pik?" ("Isn't it beautiful?").  
"Jiggly," said Jigglypuff, nodding her head yes.  
"Pichu pi-a chu-pi ch," Pichu said ("Hand me that Santa wrapping paper.").  
Jigglypuff handed him the paper, and took some stuff out of her own bag. "Jiggly-puff-puff Jiggly!" she exclaimed ("Feast your eyes on this!").  
  
The two stared at it. It was Pokemon Snap, the game Mewtwo had asked for three years ago and had never gotten.  
"Pichu pi," commented the smaller mouse ("Very nice.").  
Jigglypuff thanked him and got to work writing him a card. She decided to write it in English, so he wouldn't have to translate it (Pikachu and Pichu had told her how much he was annoyed by it). Her spelling, unfortunately, was quite bad:  
  
"Deer Mootoo,  
  
Mary Krismas! I don't now iff yoo stil want this, butt I gott itt forr yoo eny way. I hop yoo lyk itt! I wil pla itt weth yoo iff yoo want me two.  
By the way, thanx forr trensleteng al the tym! Its sow konnsideritt awf yoo.  
Luv frum Jigglypuff"  
  
While all this was going on, Link was in his room. There was a knock on his door. He went to it. "Who is it?"  
"It's Lombardi and McCloud," Fox answered.  
Link opened the door, and they walked in.  
"I'M SO EXCITED!" Falco yelled. "IT'S ALMOST CHRISTMAS!!"  
"Shh, not so loud!" Link shushed him. "Captain Falcon's next door, and he likes to sleep in."  
There was another knock, and Link went to the door. Before he could ask who it was, they shouted in unison, "It's-a me, Mario!"  
"And-a me-a Luigi!"  
Link opened the door again, and admitted the Mario brothers.  
"Well-a come on," said Dr. Mario. "Let's get-a started!"  
  
Eventually, everyone was in the dining room awaiting breakfast.  
"Mmeeerrry four-days-until-Christmas!" Impa greeted King Harkinian.  
"And a Mmeeerrry four-days-until-Christmas to you!" the King said back.  
"Morning Link," said Zelda, taking a seat next to him.  
"Hiya Princess," he welcomed in return. He leaned closer to her and whispered something in her ear. "You're gonna get Falcon there, right?"  
She nodded. "And you Samus, right?"  
He nodded. Samus sat down next to them. "Hi guys," she said.  
"Guess-a what!" Luigi exclaimed, sitting down across from them.  
"What?" asked Impa.  
"I said-a guess."  
"Uhh.did the Yankees win the U.S. open?" Falcon asked.  
"You idiot!" Samus grunted, slapping his forehead again. "Yankees is baseball! The US open is tennis!"  
"Did Yao Ming win the lottery?" Summer tried.  
Luigi shrugged. "I don't-a know. But that's not-a what I have-a in mind."  
"George Bush almost choked on another pretzel?" Zelda guessed hopefully.  
"I wish-a he did," Luigi sighed. "But-a no."  
"Oh, just tell us already!" King Harkinian and Link shouted.  
"IT SNOWED-A ALL NIGHT!" Luigi bellowed.  
"HOLY MALON TALON AND RUTO!!" Impa shouted. "He's right!"  
Young Link cheered. "Snow is the coolest thing ever! I wish that it snowed all the time!"  
"Us too," the Ice climbers chimed. "Wait a second.it does snow all the time where we come from!" The hugged each other smiling at their fortune.  
"And I bought a new snowboard," Fox boasted.  
"Well my old one's just as good!" Impa barked. "Wanna see who's got more skill once we get outside?"  
"Bring it on!" Fox challenged.  
"Thirty dollars that Impa wins," Falco betted.  
Fox threw him a dirty look. "Oh please."  
"You seem pretty cocky yourelf, McCloud!" Impa remarked. "Don't even think that you're going to beat me! ME, Mistress of all evil!! AH HA HA HA!!!" Everyone stared at her. "...sorry."  
"Hey, how's your raisn bran crackling like that?" Gannondorf asked Zelda. "Isn't Rice Krispies the only cereal that does that?"  
"Well normally yes," Zelda explained. "But I'm using grape soda instead of my skim milk."  
"EEW!" Bowser shouted, wrinkling his nose. "That is disgusting!!"  
Zelda raised and lowered one shoulder. "Call it what you like, fatty."  
"FATTY?!" Bowser exploded. "HOW DARE YOU!!"  
"Quite easily," Zelda smirked.  
What she got in response was a hashbrown in her bowl of grape soda and raisin bran. It had been aimed for her face, but missed. However, the splash the hashbrown made went right into her face.  
"That'll teach you!" Bowser laughed.  
"How dare you do that to Hyrule's heir!" Impa screeched. She picked up one of Gannondorf's flapjacks and threw it at the Koop King. "That ought to teach you some manners, you naughty Koopa!"  
It didn't. And another food fight developed. This one lasted only ten minutes though, five less than the other.  
"You know what would really get this stuff off good?" Popo said, wiping butter off his cheeks.  
"What?" asked Captain Falcon.  
"SOME SNOW!!"  
The food covered smashers and friends rushed outdoors to play in the snow  
"Aah, and this time, we're singer free!" Falcon cried with glee.  
"That reminds me," Gannondorf commented. "Bowser and I saw some really freaky Frank Sinatra Barbies at FAO."  
"You're right. That IS freaky," Falcon consented.  
"Hey dad!" Zelda called out. He walked over, and Zelda hooked arms with Link. "We challenge you to a snowball fight."  
"Challenge accepted!" King Harkinian shouted.  
"Okay, pick a partner."  
Harkinian scanned the crowd. "Hey, Jaraad!" he yelled. "Come on over and help me kill Zelda and Link in a snowball fight."  
"Okay!" King Jaraad sauntered over. "Zelda, Lank, get ready for the most humiliating fight of your lives!"  
"Um, sire?" said Link. "The name's Link. Not.Lank."  
"Oh, sorry Link."  
"Apology NOT accepted!" Link laughed, launching a snow ball at King Jaraad. "Come on highness, think quickly!"  
"Hey dad!" Zelda taunted. "Quick reflexes!!" She threw a snowball at her father. It whacked the crown off his head. He bent down the pick it up. "That was a liiiiitle high," Zelda remarked.  
Meanwhile, Fox and Impa had placed their snowboards at the top of a hill.  
"Prepare to meet your downfall," Impa whispered.  
"Right back at ya!" Fox snorted. "Ladies first."  
Mario was stationed at the bottom of the hill with a stop watch. The spectators included the pokemon, Dr. Mario, Luigi, Bowser, Gannondorf, and Captain Falcon.  
"On your mark!" Samus bellowed. "Get set...GO!" ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Isn't that suspenseful? I hope so, 'cause i dont think i can update this story anymore. the disk i saved it on is messed up and won't let me do anything with it. BUT IM TRYING PEOPLE!!! 


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